Reform necessary

Reform necessary
within PT KAI

From Koran Tempo

The recent, terrifying accident between a passenger train and
a locomotive that was shunting in Cirebon station caused a huge
number of victims, loss of passengers' property and heavy damage
to the nation's assets.

Subsequently, the minister of transportation and his
"assistant" (nb. meaning the chief, or top management) in the
state railway company (PT KAI) said they would immediately
resign, to which I expressed my "salute". But in fact the
minister was only "willing" to resign if the country's president
wished so. That kind of expression of responsibility has less
value.

Only hours after the accident in Cirebon, three events
occurred: one person died after being hit by the Jakarta-Bogor
electric train (KRL), as reported by one television station, a
father and his daughter died, due to being hit by a train at
Pramuka railway intersection and several electric trains had to
stop at Manggarai station, because the electricity supply
terminal had been damaged by lightning.

Were all these incidents due to human error or would you call
it force majeure?

Is it considered responsible by KAI's management to allow
long-distance trains to be manned by only one engineer instead of
two, so that one could rest while the other was working?

Who could swear that the railway crossing light or signal
indicated red and not green? Who is to be held responsible if
such equipment was not in good condition or had not been properly
maintained? How could PT KAI so quickly state that the engineer
had gone to sleep?

Who has thus far allowed passengers to hang onto the doors and
climb on top of the ever-crowded Jakarta-Bogor and Jakarta-
Tangerang electric trains? Should anyone fall to his or her
death, would it still be appropriate to call it human error?

Regarding the minister of transportation (a former military
man, who seems to have a firm attitude), I wonder why, during his
tenure in two cabinets, he has not been able to uphold the rules
and regulations, in cooperation with other departments, in every
sector of transportation, not only in the railways. The state of
transportation management is very weak and it often suffers
financial losses, mostly due to corruption, collusion and
nepotism, and the kinds of services it offers often inconvenience
rather than benefit others. Who is to blame?

Referring to the electric supply terminal, my question is
whether the lightning conductor was in bad condition or had not
yet been installed. Ironically, sophisticated lightning rods have
long been available in the market.

In my view, the above events, primarily caused by weak
management, should serve as a basis for reform in the management
and services of PT KAI.

A. HIDAYAT

Jakarta