Reform necessary within PT KAI
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