Putri Island apologizes

Putri Island apologizes

We refer to the letter from Lala Malikova published in The Jakarta Post on March 16, 2001 under the title frightening journey to Putri Island.

On behalf of Putri Island management, we do apologize for the inconvenient return journey from Putri island to Jakarta on Feb. 11, 2001, due to a situation beyond our control. We would like to clarify this matter.

As a matter of fact, we maintain our boat regularly and change the boat's engine if the fixed one has trouble. When the trouble arose the crew took quick action. As soon as the crew found out that the hydraulic steering system had broken down, they contacted Marina management for a standby boat to pick up guests and tried to moor at the nearby island manually. This would take some time. Unfortunately, our crew members do not speak English and so were unable to explain what had happened. However, they all tried their best to give all the passengers good service. While we admit that during the transfer, some luggage was left in the broken boat and the bags were too heavy for the crew to move in the rough sea to the other boat, no belongings went missing as a result of the transfer.

We have been in the tourism business since the 1970s and deeply regret the Feb. 11 incident, and would like to again apologize for the inconvenience experienced by the passengers.

JOHNNY LAPIAN

Putri Island Management