Soekarno-Hatta Airport complaint

The irony now is that Soekarno-Hatta international airport is only marginally better than East Jakarta's Pulogadung bus terminal.

True indeed! The airport, once our pride and joy, is now crowded with street vendors offering all kinds of wares, bogus fiscal and foreign exchange traders, illegal porters frequently extorting money for unasked-for services and unauthorized taxi drivers touting for potential passengers, harassing or frightening them.

General services are disappointing too: most baggage trolleys are left outside the arrival terminal, while only several porters are available to help. Is all this arranged on purpose? Taxis are also hard to get. If you are rich, you can easily order a luxury one from the counter at the arrival terminal though. This taxi is a private car and appears to pay no tax.

Damri (state bus company) buses, which monopolize the public transportation to and from this place, often arrive late. They are often already full when they arrive and you must be ready to stand. Actually they should pass Terminals One A, B and C before proceeding to Terminal Two as they have to serve airplane passengers.

Unfortunately, Damri bus drivers have recently changed this route. They take some office and warehouse employees first, then go to Terminal Two before entering Terminal One. This is really disadvantageous to passengers with only limited time to spare, particularly those due to take off from Terminal One.

Airplane passengers pay the airport tax but, strangely, some public facilities in the area, like free telephones for local calls, have gradually gone, replaced now by chip telephones, the use of which is not free of charge. Fortunately, the cleaning service men still keep the rest rooms in the airport lobby clean.

If PT Angkasa Pura, the airport management, intends to make its services more professional, it should send its staff abroad for a comparative study. Singapore's Changi airport, for example, which is larger, more luxurious, more hygienic, more comfortable and more humane, would be a good place to visit.

SUGENG HARTONO

Jakarta