Police find 'Gurita' was leaky

Police find 'Gurita' was leaky

JAKARTA (JP): A newer and bigger ferry began servicing Banda
Aceh and Sabang on Weh Island in Aceh on Saturday, replacing the
Gurita which sank two weeks earlier. The search for the missing
ferry passengers officially ended on Friday.

Yet as relatives of the missing people began to face reality,
a disturbing police report surfaced during the weekend suggesting
a number of irregularities about the ill-fated voyage.

The Aceh Police, who lost seven officers in the tragedy,
launched their own investigation separate from the one
commissioned by the Aceh Provincial Administration.

The government's official investigation, which is still
underway, has all along stated that the ferry was seaworthy and
not overloaded. Preliminary investigations suggested bad weather
was the cause of the Jan. 19 accident.

The police investigation, as reported by Suara Karya daily,
found that the vessel had leaks which were only plugged by
cement. The report went on to say that the Gurita's captain,
Zaini Djambek, who went down with the ferry, had refused to set
sail because of the condition of the vessel, but he relented
after his superiors threatened to sack him.

The report did not identify the superiors.

The Gurita was operated by the government-owned River, Lake
and Crossing Transportation Services.

That the ferry had leaks plugged only with cement has been
confirmed by Teuku Darwin, the chairman of the Golkar board in
Aceh. Teuku Darwin said he had spoken to two Gurita crewmen who
worked in the engine room.

The police investigation determined that the ferry may have
been carrying as many as 400 passengers, and not 210, or its full
capacity, as stated in the official passengers' manifest. It
reported that, generally, each ticket sold represented three
passengers.

When the search for more bodies officially ended on Friday,
the authorities counted 40 survivors and 54 bodies. Those not
found have been officially proclaimed dead. The authorities are
unable to give a precise number of deaths due to conflicting
reports on the actual number of people the Gurita was carrying.

The Aceh Police report, according to Suara Karya, put the
missing passengers at 306.

Most of them were believed to have been trapped in the ferry
when it sank.

The suggestion that the ferry was overloaded has also been
strengthened by a Sabang mayoralty survey on the number of people
on the Weh Island who have gone missing since Jan. 19. It is
presumed they were on board the Gurita. The survey found 267
missing. In addition, there were dozens of other people who were
not from the island, including six foreigners, on board.

A number of survivors recounted that they had to stand on the
passengers' deck when the ferry set sail because there were too
many people on board.

Among the deaths include chief of the Sabang Police Lt. Col.
Rahmad Semedi, his wife and son. They were not on the manifest.
There were also six junior police officers on board.

"I have reported the missing officers to the National Police
Chief in Jakarta," Aceh Police Chief Col. A. Hamid Busra was
quoted as saying by Suara Karya.

With the search now officially ended, the provincial
administration on Saturday established a fact finding team to
determine the exact number of people missing.

The team's leader, Zainuddin A.G., urged everyone with
relatives missing to report to the team or the nearest police or
military posts. He said he hoped to complete the work before Idul
Fitri.

None of the controversy was apparent, however, when Aceh
Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud on Saturday inaugurated the maiden
voyage of KMP Tande'man, the ferry that took over the role of
Gurita as the link between Aceh and Weh Island.

Tande'man, which was dispatched from West Nusa Tenggara, was
built in 1990 and can carry up to 500 passengers and 18 crewmen,
163 tons of cargo and 12 vehicles. Its maximum speed is 12 knots.

Governor Syamsuddin, in his speech at the inauguration, urged
the vessel's operators to be more disciplined and abide by the
regulations to ensure that such an accident does not reoccur.

"Let's say that the sinking of the Gurita was a lesson for all
of us," he was quoted by Antara as saying, adding that everyone
should try to put the Gurita tragedy behind them.

For the past two weeks, the route was temporarily covered by
Navy warships which allowed passengers to travel without charge.
(emb)