Sabang mayor breaks down over ferry grief

Sabang mayor breaks down over ferry grief

JAKARTA (JP): Emotion caught up with Sabang Mayor Bustari Mansyur who has been touring Weh Island these past 10 days to console the grieving relatives of those who died when their ferry sank on the way to the island on Jan. 19.

Bustari yesterday broke into tears the moment he stepped into the house of a mourning family, Antara reported. The incident was repeated as he visited other houses later.

"Whose heart wouldn't break to find the grief in these families. They all broke down the moment we set our foot in their doors. I couldn't hold back my own tears," the mayor told the news agency later.

The mourning has continued to this day because most of the families are still uncertain about the fate of their loved ones.

So far, only 94 people -- 40 survivors and 54 bodies -- have been accounted for from the Gurita which sank while crossing from Aceh to Sabang. The passengers' manifest listed 210 people including 16 crewmen, but the actual number of people on board has been the subject of contention.

The government insisted that there could be two dozen extra passengers who bought tickets on board. Survivors maintained that the ship was far more overloaded, and a Sabang mayoralty survey of mourning families on the Island found that 295 islanders alone were on that ship.

Most of the missing passengers are believed to be trapped in the shipwreck now lying on the seabed off Weh Island.

Bustari has been visiting every family who lost their loved ones in that ferry. He is donating 15 kgs of rice to the grieving families rice and Rp 25,000 cash for each life lost.

In Jakarta, President Soeharto yesterday appealed to the grieving relatives to accept the death of their loved ones.

State Minister for Food Affairs Ibrahim Hassan, who is a leading Acehnese public figure, told reporters after meeting with the head of state that Soeharto sent his condolences to all the grieving relatives.

"They should let them go in peace," Ibrahim quoted the President as saying.

Soeharto last week ordered Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto to consider ways of lifting the shipwreck.

Experts however have ruled out that option because it would involve a prohibitively huge cost. This explanation was accepted by the President, Ibrahim said.

The Navy has said that according to procedural guidelines, a search operation should be stopped after two weeks. (emb)