PT KAI lacks courage to punish employees, Minister Agum says
PT KAI lacks courage to punish employees, Minister Agum says
BANDUNG (JP): Minister of Transportation and
Telecommunications Agum Gumelar criticized on Friday the state
railway operator PT KAI for lacking the courage to punish errant
employees.
Speaking at an informal meeting with train drivers, conductors
and railway traffic controllers working in Java here on Thursday,
Agum said that a consistent attitude from the company was needed
to take action against employees found violating operational
rules.
"It is unwise to punish those who are in fact innocent, while
the guilty are let free without punishment," he said.
Eliardi, a train driver in Cirebon, told the minister that a
driver friend of his had frequently broken operational procedures
in a way that could have led to fatal accidents.
He also complained about sloppy railway traffic controllers.
"We want PT KAI management to instruct Semarang traffic
controllers to turn their radio communication devices on. I'm
often unable to contact them."
The minister said the meeting with the 120 train employees was
aimed at finding out what was really happening on the nation's
railways.
"I've been planning a meeting like this for a long time. And
this meeting is related to the recent train collision," Agum
said, referring to the train accident in Batang that claimed 16
lives on Sunday.
The collision between the Semarang-bound Tawangjaya II and a
freight train took place at around 6:30 a.m. in the village of
Ketanggan, Batang, some 100 kilometers west of Semarang.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that human error was
behind the accident.
Many employees complained about fatigue and poor salaries. "We
want the management to pay more attention to our welfare," one of
the drivers said.
The minister said PT KAI had many problems that should be
dealt with at the same time.
"Passengers without tickets, and those sitting on top of the
wagons, should be dealt with before PT KAI starts internal law
enforcement."
But PT KAI spokesman Gatot Wibowo told The Jakarta Post after
the meeting that dozens of employees had been dismissed for
breaking operational regulations.
"We have also conducted a reward and punishment system
according to the law. We should be careful in handing down
punishment. We must first learn the level of the violation by the
employees."(25/sur)