Will this be the last?
Will this be the last?
News of fatal railway accidents are so regular in this country
that if they do not claim numerous human lives then they are
commonly treated as insignificant events. Last year alone there
were 14 accidents involving trains, killing 85 people. Twelve of
the accidents occurred on the overcrowded island of Java and two
on Sumatra, where only two of the island's provinces operate
railway systems making news of such tragedies rarely heard over
there.
For Jakarta citizens, however, the railway accident which
happened in Bintaro subdistrict in 1987 is still fresh in their
minds. The disaster claimed 160 lives. The high frequency of
railway accidents has ironically made the people reluctant to
demand the resignation of the minister in charge of public
transport, because if such action was demanded there would have
to be at least one new minister every month.
However, the railway accident which occurred early on Sunday
morning at the Cirebon station, 200 km east of Jakarta, and
claimed at least 41 lives has become a controversial topic in the
capital city. The tragedy took place when the incoming train from
Jakarta, with some 400 passengers on board, rammed into a
locomotive at the station at 3:45 a.m., instantly killing 41
people and injuring 62 others.
The reason for the uproar is not just a consequence of the
huge number of victims, but also eye-witness accounts stating
that the train driver and his assistant were sleepy long before
reaching the West Java coastal town. Such fatal negligence also
occurred several years ago. As the number of casualties was small
in that case, railway authorities did not feel obligated to think
of ways to avoid a reoccurrence of the dangerous pattern. So, it
happened again and again, and this time on a more horrendous
scale.
The most remarkable thing about this country's most repetitive
tragedy is that those who had been made to bear responsibility
for the disasters have only been those from the lower ranks. Is
there no other effective way of avoiding the tragedy from
repeating itself?
The government has tried to improve the management and system
but it has not found an effective way to avoid further accidents.
The company that used to operate the railway system has been
replaced by PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), still a state-owned
company but a more professional one. Despite the change, the new
management still seems to be in a quandary about methods needed
to improve safety, much less avoid income losses.
The new management has not improved the supervision system
because there is no clear protocol about who is supervising whom
in KAI. The latest accidents have demonstrated that the
management has not been able to establish stricter discipline
among railroad personnel or stop the public from treating the
railway system as a free social service.
Many years ago this paper warned railway authorities to take
stern measures against employees allowing passengers to jump onto
the top of railway cars or stand in between the cars. Despite
being an extremely dangerous practice, hundreds of passengers
still sit on the moving cars every day. Maybe because this
country has been experiencing an economic crisis KAI management
does not believe that the growing trend could further affect our
image as an under-developed country.
Furthermore, recent reports that personal safety has been
deteriorating inside the trains suggests that it would be a good
idea for management to now renew the policy of placing railway
police inside the cars.
Finally, the latest accident should motivate the minister of
transport to investigate the true causes of the Cirebon tragedy
and whether discipline among the railway employees has dropped.
The minister must also determine whether their employees'
salaries and welfare are commensurate with the level of their
responsibilities.
These steps are crucial because the railway industry has long
exacerbated the nation's headache.