Riau boat operators try to keep business afloat

Riau boat operators try to keep business afloat

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam

The weather in Sekupang harbor, Batam, is hot and the sun is
shining brightly. However, Hasyim, 50, a pancung boat operator,
is oblivious as he squats down in his boat while bailing out
water. Hasyim has been operating the wooden boat, powered by a
40-horsepower outboard motor, for 30 years. Thanks to this, he
has been able to support his wife and four children.

A veteran boatman, Hasyim starts his day at 7 a.m. waiting his
turn at Belakang Padang harbor. He was 10th in line out of 120
boats that day.

"I only get one turn most days, two if I'm lucky. It's busier
at holiday time though, and normally we can get two trips,"
Hasyim told The Jakarta Post, adding that he usually earns only
Rp 50,000 a day, excluding the cost of fuel and meals while
working. A pancung has a capacity of between 10 and 15
passengers, and is about 4 meters long and 2 meters wide.

The fare for a one-way trip is Rp 7,000 per person. The boat
uses 10 liters of gasoline for the five-mile trip between Batam
and Belakang Padang and a single trip takes around 15 minutes.

He steers his boat without any mechanical aids. He doesn't
even have a compass or other guidance equipment.

Belakang Padang district is made up of islands and lies to the
north of Batam. It measures 4,202 hectares and has 18,761
inhabitants.

Before Batam came under the management of the Batam Authority
in 1971 and was placed under the leadership of a mayor, Belakang
Padang was actually the capital of the district, which came under
the jurisdiction of Riau Islands regency, Riau province. At that
time, Batam island was just a subdistrict of Belakang Padang
district.

Another pancung boat operator, Suryono, 29, said that he did
not mind waiting for passengers until midnight, especially on
Saturday and Sunday nights.

"Many young people from Belakang Padang usually go to
discotheques at around 10 p.m. or later. The fare will be higher
at weekends than on normal days. We can charge them what we like,
but normally it's Rp 15,000 per person," said Suryono, who leases
his boat for Rp 700,000 a month.

Other potential passengers are Singaporean men visiting
prostitutes on Mat Belanda island in the same island chain as
Belakang Padang.

"These men usually arrive on Friday or Saturday. They prefer
the prostitutes on Mat Belanda island to those on Batam. They say
the sex workers on Batam are unfriendly and stuck-up.

"It's different in Belakang Padang. They are cheaper
here than in Batam. The men usually charter a boat for a single
trip which costs Rp 100,000," said Suryono, who is a junior high
school graduate.

However, the golden days of the pancung seem to be over as can
be seen by the declining number of boats waiting for passengers
in the harbor.

There were 215 boats registered in 2000, and only 120 are
still operating now.

Hasyim and Suryono say that the drop in the number of boats is
due to a decline in the number of Belakang Padang residents
traveling to Batam and vice versa.

In 2000, around 500 people traveled back and forth between
Batam and Belakang Padang daily, but only half that number do so
now. "Many Belakang Padang residents now have houses on Batam, so
they return home on Saturdays only -- not every day as they did
before. This is the reason for the drop in the number of
passengers. However, we're grateful that we can still earn a
living for our families," said Hasyim.