Untangling Merak jam

Untangling Merak jam

Stories of starving truck drivers begging for food, and
drivers abandoning their trucks for lack of money are not the
only horrendous tales coming out of Merak. There are bound to be
other hard-luck stories resulting from the massive congestion at
the West Java ferry port town these past few days.

Most, however, have not been reported by the media. Certainly
the impacts of the delays have been neglected. These trucks carry
food supplies not only for the Christmas and New Year holidays,
but also raw materials for industries in Sumatra.

Stories about how the congestion has forced thousands of bus
passengers to walk several kilometers to reach the port, or
people arriving from Sumatra having to walk long distances to get
to their buses, have become so common that they rarely get
mentioned in the press nowadays.

Congestion in Merak has become a common sight. This is the
third massive jam this year. The first one was in February,
during the Idul Fitri holiday, and the second during the long
school break in July. Both times, the ferry service simply could
not cope with the surge in demand during the peak holiday times.
This time the jam is blamed on bad weather. Port officials said
strong waves in the Sunda Strait has made it unsafe for many of
the ferries to sail between Merak and Bakauheni, the port at the
other side of the strait. At one time, 10 of the 16 ferries were
out of service this week, either because of poor weather or
because they were dry docked.

Is this a case of bad weather, or more of bad management?

The jams in Merak these past few years have become more
frequent, with each congestion seemingly worse than the previous
one. The authorities appear to be doing little to improve the
situation. The fleet of ferries are mostly old vessels that
cannot survive the slightest rough weather. While we applaud the
authorities' concern for passenger safety, it is no excuse for an
inefficient service. The long delays at the port equally cause
misery to many people.

The Sunda Strait ferry crossing is a vital link between Java
and Sumatra, and the authorities know the ferry services are
increasingly in demand. But two additional piers that were
promised have not materialized, and there is no indication they
will be ready by the next surge in demand during the Idul Fitri
holiday, which is less two months away.

The authorities are not even upgrading the vessels plying the
strait, or adding new ones. The congestion this week showed the
sorry condition of the fleet of ferries in the Sunda Strait: most
are either too old, too small or overused. It is fortunate that
every time there is crisis, the Navy is willing to lend ships to
help ease congestion. But this is a short-term solution.

There have also been talks about constructing a bridge between
Java and Sumatra, a long-term solution that would solve the
problem once and for all. But the plan is in a less-developed
stage than the plan to build a bridge linking East Java and
Madura. Without belittling the Madura bridge, one often wonders
whether the authorities have their priorities right.

The authorities have short and long-term solutions, but no
medium-term solution, which is important in averting the current
crisis.

The horrendous tales coming from Merak have prompted at least
one House of Representatives member to suggest that Minister of
Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto resign if the authorities are
unable to resolve the congestion problem by Idul Fitri. The
suggestion by Sofyan Usman, a member of House Commission V for
transportation, as reported by Antara yesterday, seems rather
drastic. But something slightly less drastic than that is
probably what is needed now to untangle the jam in Merak.