One Reported Dead as Ferry Sinks off Indonesia's Sumatra Island; Rescue Underway

The Jakarta Globe

Ferry accidents are common in Indonesian waters. The 'Senopati Nusantara', above, sank off the coast of Java in late 2006 with some 500 people aboard. (Photo: EPA)

A ferry carrying 213 has sunk in rough seas near Indonesia's Riau islands, killing at least one person, police said.

Search teams are looking for survivors from the Dumai Express 10 which was sailing from Batam near Singapore to Dumai island in Riau when it ran into massive waves, Riau police chief Puji Hartanto told Metro TV.

The victim was a small child, according to kompas.com.

Survivors were spotted floating at sea, Hartanto said.

Separately, another ferry, the Dumai Express 15 with 278 people on board, ran aground after it was hit by large waves, said Riau police spokesman Yasin Kosasih.

All passengers and crew survived, he added. The ferry was travelling between Batam and Moro island.

Indonesia relies heavily on ferry services to connect the many islands in the sprawling archipelago, but accidents are common, largely due to years of under-investment in infrastructure and a tendency to overload ferries.

Reuters JG

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Transport Safety in Eastern Indonesia Tops Ministry’s Goals in First 100 Days

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari

Passenger safety, especially in the eastern part of Indonesia, remained one of Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi’s priorities for his first 100 days in office, top officials at the ministry said over the weekend.

Sunaryo, director general of maritime transportation, said that safety inspections would be carried out on ships throughout Indonesia.

“The priority areas include Medan, Batam, Pontianak and the eastern part of Indonesia,” he said, adding that the inspections were to ensure safe sea transportation for the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s holiday.

Sunaryo also said several routes would be reorganized to avoid a back up of passengers at certain ports.

“Some ships will be relocated from less crowded ports to busier ones,” he said.

Herry Bhakti Singayuda, the Transportation Ministry’s director general of civil aviation, said that improving air transportation in Papua would be another of the ministry’s priorities over the next three months.

“We are focusing on airports in Papua,” he said.

Herry said the ministry would expand and improve about 90 airports in the province, including transforming small air strips into commercial runways.

“Not all airports in Papua have air traffic controllers,” he said, “and that is what we are going to improve.”

He also said that several airports would be upgraded to create major hubs to link the province with other cities in Indonesia. He said the first of these hubs would be in Jayapura, Merauke, and several other large cities.

As part of the 100-day plan, the ministry’s railway and road departments aim to integrate mass transportation in metro areas.

Suroyo Alimoeso, director general of road transportation said the integration would begin in Jakarta by instituting a one-ticket policy for commuter trains and the busway.

“I think that this is one of the crucial points to be accomplished,” Suroyo said.

He also said transportation networks in bigger cities would be reworked to make them more environmentally friendly.

“Jakarta has done this by using some compressed natural gas-fueled public transportation,” he said, adding that other cities were expected to follow suit.

Tundjung Inderawan, director general of railways, said programs for railway revitalization would continue, including an improvement in rail corridors in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok and Bekasi.

“We will continue to clear the [areas close to the] tracks of houses,” he said.

Danang Parikesit, secretary general of the Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI), said the ministry should have set more practical goals for its first 100 days.

“They should prioritize building better regulation as the basis of transportation,” Danang said, adding that the minister should focus on improving transportation services to all the country’s remote areas, not just those in the eastern part of the country.

“This is very important for Freddy, in order to get people to trust him as the new minister,” he said.

Indonesia warns of massive power crisis

www.chinaview.cn 2008-02-20 18:16:47

JAKARTA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government warned on Wednesday that a massive power crisis could hit the most crowded island of Java in the coming days due to disruption in fuel supplies at major generators.

"The government is likely to announce an emergency situation" unless the problem is solved immediately, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in an open hearing with legislators here.

Storms and high tides have caused delays in fuel and coal shipment to five major generators on Java, home to about 60 percent of the national population, resulting in a deficit of 1,000 megawatts of electricity supplies.

The government will announce a state of emergency in power supplies when the deficit grows to 1,500 megawatts, the minister said.

Earlier in the day, the state-run electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) issued a call for residents to cut electricity consumption by up to 20 percent until supplies are back to normal.

The Cilacap power plant in Central Java could suspend operation as soon as Thursday, as could the Tanjung Jati plant on Friday due to fuel constraints, the company said.

Other major plants are operating at lower capacity, PLN said in a statement, quoted by leading news website Detikcom.

State firms in logistics, tourism sector 'did well'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The performance of a total 31 state-owned companies in the logistics and tourism sectors showed encouraging progress last year in earnings and profits, a senior official said.

Total revenues rose by 14.7 percent to Rp 40.4 trillion (about US$4.3 billion) in 2007 from Rp 34.4 trillion in 2006. In 2005, the companies posted Rp 32.3 trillion in revenue, according to Harry Susetyo Nugroho, deputy to the state minister of state enterprises.

In profits, the companies increased to Rp 3.2 trillion in 2007 from Rp 2.4 trillion in 2006, Harry told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VI on industry, investment, SMEs and state enterprises.

The companies made Rp 2.5 trillion in profit in 2005.

Contributing the highest to increased revenue and profit were mainly companies like national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia Airline and shipping firm PT Pelni, which were both in the red in previous years but bounced back to return to the black in 2007.

Garuda posted a profit of Rp 250 billion in 2007 after a loss of Rp 197 billion in 2006 and Rp 588 billion in 2005. Pelni made Rp 88 billion last year in profit, after suffering a loss of Rp 127.8 billion in 2005.

In addition, Harry said, Garuda and another state carrier PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines received capital injections from the government worth Rp 1 trillion and Rp 450 billion, respectively.

"As for Garuda, the Rp 1 trillion funds have not been used as its performance is improving," said Harry on Thursday.

Merpati had used Rp 290 billion of the money for maintenance works and debts payments.

"Merpati failed to meet its target on improving its cash flow, so we plan to reevaluate the target this year," said Harry.

Elsewhere, the government restructured heavy machinery company PT Rukindo's management in early 2006 and made state-owned sea-port operators PT Pelindo I, PT Pelindo II, PT Pelindo III and PT Pelindo IV its foster parent companies, he said.

"All four Pelindo companies last year gave Rp 80 billion to Rukindo to support its working capital."

To improve the performance of state-owned hotel group PT Hotel Indonesia Natour (HIN), the government negotiated with Djarum Group to refurbish one of HIN's hotels, the iconic Hotel Indonesia.

Hotel Indonesia, located in Central Jakarta near the famous circle intersection called Bunderan HI (Hotel Indonesia), was the first hotel in the country.

Harry said starting in 2004 Djarum Group had leased Hotel Indonesia's complex on 6.2 hectares of land for 30 years to build an integrated commercial center named Grand Indonesia.

Commenting on the government's action on improving its hotels business, the chairman of the commission Didiek J. Rachbini suggested the government privatize the hotel group.

"I suggest the government focus on the transportation businesses, such as Garuda, instead of hotels. Private companies do better on hotels, so leave the business to them," he added without elaborating. (nkn)

A disastrous year for national transportation

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The first day of 2007 was marked by a jetliner going missing, in what some later saw as a sign of things to come: It was the first in what was to be a long line of accidents.

The disappearance of the Boeing 737-400 aircraft operated by Adam Air tragically left 102 victims listed as "missing" for weeks, before the government confirmed that they had died after crashing into the Majene Sea off West Sulawesi.

Another deadly accident took place on March 7 when a Boeing 737-400 operated by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia failed to make a proper landing in Yogyakarta. The pilot ignored 15 alerts and the pleas of his co-pilot that he was coming in too fast.

On the ground, several survivors lamented that rescuers had difficulty reaching the victims during the emergency.

Both accidents made media headlines and caused an uproar abroad, especially in Australia, five of whose citizens were among the 21 killed in the Garuda crash.

All eyes turned to the Transportation Ministry. Many charged the ministry had been slow to enact crucial safety procedures.

In the midst of the controversy, then-transportation minister Hatta Radjasa was replaced by Jusman Syafii Djamal, former president director of the ailing state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI).

Hatta, with the help of his party, moved up the political ladder to become State Secretary.

Under Jusman, the ministry has made several moves in an apparent effort to gain control over the situation.

Over the years, air traffic in Indonesia has increased thanks to the liberalization of the air transportation sector. This has resulted in a burgeoning number of low-cost carriers.

The rise in competition has ultimately lowered safety standards, as airlines face pressure to cut operational costs to gain market share and eke out a profit.

The transportation ministry at one point ordered all airlines not to use airplanes more than 20 years old so as to reduce risks.

Many observers, however, believe the problem is related to airplane maintenance, not age.

After hastily conducting a safety audit, the ministry announced on March 22 that not one of Indonesia's 54 registered airlines was fully compliant with safety regulations.

Not even Garuda made it into the top safety category, falling instead into category II, signifying that it was partly compliant with standards.

Thirteen other passenger airlines were placed in category II and seven rated as category III, or non-compliant with safety regulations.

Of the 34 commuter, charter and cargo airlines, 20 made it into category II while the rest fell into category III.

The rating announcement was greeted with an uproar from both the public and the airlines. Most of the airlines, however, took actions to improve safety. Some even hired foreign consultants.

These improvements were noted when the transportation ministry announced the results of its second audit on June 25.

While only Garuda made it into category I, there were 19 passenger airlines in category II. One company, Jatayu, had its airline operator certificate revoked.

Among the commuter, cargo and charter airlines, 23 made it into category II, 11 were put in category III and three airlines had their certificates revoked.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also called for improvements, establishing an ad hoc team of experts in January called the National Team for the Evaluation of Transportation Safety and Security (EKKT). They were tasked with investigating high-profile transportation mishaps.

The team, led by former Air Force chief of staff Air Marshal (ret) Chappy Hakim, found that many safety procedures had been neglected.

Among other moves, EKKT recommended that the air transport industry and government put "the right people in the right place", renovate airports, enforce sanctions, and make the National Transport Safety Committee (KNKT) into a more independent body reporting directly to the President.

EKKT pointed out that other transportation industries were also neglecting safety.

"There is no agreed-on perception of safety standards among users," EKKT spokesman Oetarjo Diran said.

Poor safety records came back to haunt the industry on July 6 when the European Union imposed a blanket ban on Indonesian airlines, prohibiting them from entering the airspace of the 27-country bloc.

At the time, none of the airlines were serving European routes, although Garuda was planning to resume flights to Amsterdam.

The ban came as a nasty shock to the government, and a somewhat unusual one, since it prohibited not only passenger airlines but cargo, charter and commuter flights.

The EU appeared to be seeking reassurance that there was no collusion between operators and regulators, especially in issuing airworthiness certificates.

Several carriers have allegedly been cutting corners on maintenance, for instance by patching worn airplane tires instead of replacing them and by using inferior spare parts.

Under the ban, European travel agents are issuing warnings about Indonesian flights. Several discussions in Brussels have failed to budge the EU from its position. There has been, however, no report of a significant drop in European travelers to Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia planned to impose a similar ban. However, Jakarta managed to persuade the country to send its auditors to directly check Indonesian airlines.

Currently only Garuda flies to the kingdom.

The Saudi government finally relented on Aug. 2. That was an important decision for Garuda, which flies roughly half of Indonesia's 200,000 haj pilgrims there annually. The other half are carried by Saudi Arabian Airlines.

On Oct. 1, the transportation ministry announced three more airlines to have reached category I in addition to Garuda: Mandala Airlines and charter airlines Air Fast and Premier Airlines.

Another blow to the Indonesian air transport sector came late this year, when fire ravaged the domestic arrival terminal of the Polonia International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra on Dec. 1.

It was the second fire there in two years.

Despite its international status, the airport lacked prevention and fire equipment which would have enabled the blaze to be detected and extinguished much earlier.

Indonesia's water-borne transportation sector has also been plagued by tragedies.

The Senopati Nusantara ferry sank on the Java sea near Jepara, Central Java on December 30, 2006. More than 300 passengers died. Less than two months later the Levina ferry caught fire near Jakarta's Tanjung Priok seaport. The Feb. 22 disaster also claimed more than 300 lives. The Levina's death toll rose three days later when the burned-out hulk sank suddenly, killing two TV cameramen and two investigators researching the blaze.

The Levina crew was found to have neglected safety procedures during the voyage. Defective lifeboats are believed to have added significantly to the fatalities.

The lack of order within the ferry business even spills over onto land. The Merak-Bakauheni ferry ports in Banten and Lampung sometimes experience chaotic traffic congestion, especially during bad weather when the waves are high and the vessels cannot dock properly.

Although the situation is not particularly dangerous, a lack of sufficient facilities has created a bottleneck of trucks and passengers on the road.

Due to the surge in travelers around Idul Fitri, no trucks carrying non-basic goods may use the ferries for inter-island transport then.

Discipline is part of the problem. Many ferries do not depart on time and many trucks carry excessive loads.

The railway system operated by state-owned PT Kereta Api, which dates back to the Dutch colonial era, also suffered from numerous mishaps.

A Jan. 15 accident involving the Bengawan train on the Purwokerto-Banyumas border claimed five lives. Three people died on March 26 when the Mutiara Timur train hit a passing car in Margorejo, Surabaya.

Most of the country's rail disasters are collisions or derailments caused by employee negligence, aging railway lines and trains, and carelessness on the part of people crossing railway tracks.

Jusman has pledged to prioritize the safety and renovation of rail transport.

A new rail law opens the way for private companies to become train operators. It gives PT Kereta Api a grace period of two years to prepare itself for competition.

However, some observers doubt investors will be interested.

In 2008, the Transportation Ministry needs to apply and enforce the recommendations of the ad-hoc transportation team in order to lower the number of accidents. Even if the number of carriers and passengers increases, it does not mean that accident rates should rise.

The public has to be reassured that flying with local carriers or using other forms of local transportation is safe. Accidents will happen, but they should not be caused by ignorance or indifference.

Tech failures cause half RI's accidents

Alfian, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Half of Indonesia's transport accidents are caused by technical failures, a newly installed professor in engine construction and energy conversion said Wednesday.

Gimbal Dolok Saribu was speaking at ceremony to see him become the new professor at the faculty of engineering and science at the National University in Jakarta.

He said technical accidents were "transportation mishaps caused by material damage".

"These can be very dangerous when they happen at dynamic or movable parts of a vehicle especially when it is moving fast," Gimbal said.

Technical accidents were caused by mistakes in design, poor material selection and material fatigue, he said.

In order to reduce air fares, it was common among airlines to keep using old and exhausted spare parts rather than replacing them with new ones, Gimbal said.

Similar practices occurred across the land and sea transportation sector.

"But the authorities are not aware of such practices.

"And even if they do know, the officials can easily be bought (off)."

Gimbal said there were two other types of accidents, including procedural and systematic.

A procedural accident occurred when a poor decision or violation of procedures was made. A systematic accident was defined as a smaller accident likely to cause a larger one.

The sources of systemic accidents were difficult to trace, Gimbal said, because they generally involved the operation of sophisticated technology.

Transportation facilities including highways and railway should be upgraded, but above all, the competence of human resources need to be improved, he said.

Also installed as professors on Wednesday were Ibrahim Abdullah in political science, Jeane Neltje Saly in law and Lijan Poltak Sinambela in public administration.

Organda, weather agency recruited for transportation safety campaign

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Transportation Ministry says it will include the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) and the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in its land and sea transportation safety campaign.

"Our program now involves suppressing the number of transportation accidents over all modes of transportation," said Transportation Minister Jusman S. Djamal on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media after a meeting with House legislators on transportation affairs, Jusman said the ministry would collaborate with Organda in managing land transportation.

"Stricter monitoring of the implementation of transportation regulations will have to be applied. We don't want a bus to endanger the lives of people because it has no brakes or runs with slippery tires," the minister said, referring to a fatal bus accident last Saturday.

The brakes on the speeding bus carrying school children in Cianjur regency, West Java, failed before the vehicle careered off a bridge, killing 16.

"Although it hasn't been reported much in the media, there have been many efforts from (the ministry) to improve land transportation safety. In many areas, we also collaborate with the police," Jusman said.

Efforts to improve land transportation safety have included a focus on qualitative rather than quantitative credentials in selecting shuttle bus operators for routes to and from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Qualitative criteria for the upcoming airport route tender include the ability to provide good, cheap services to passengers and pass gas emission and vehicle age tests.

Jusman added that monitoring adherence to safety measures by sea transportation operators is easier than for land transportation operators as harbor captains watch over operations at sea.

"To improve sea transportation, we will collaborate with BMG for morning weather warnings. If there are huge waves of about four to six meters high, the agency will report to us in the morning," he said.

Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) chairman Bambang Susantono told The Jakarta Post that collaboration with other organizations in gathering secondary data was normal practice in foreign governments.

"Data from other sources is important to prevent accidents from occurring," he said.

Bambang said accident prevention, or "active safety measures", can be difficult to orchestrate because they often involve multiple organizations. "The first step to take is to identify possible aspects of accidents before constructing such prevention methods."

The transportation society believes that the long-term goal of active safety should be balanced with short-term passive safety goals. The challenge, according to MTI, is in coordination and organizational management itself.

RI, Aussie forge cooperation in improving performance of flight regulators

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Australia forged a cooperation on a Rp178 billion transportation safety assistance program to improve flight safety.

"The program will be focused on efforts to improve the performance of regulators, managers, safety investigators and flight operators in Indonesia," Susan Page, chairwoman of a visiting Australian delegation to a strategic summit on flight safety in Indonesia, said here on Wednesday.

In a press release issued by the Australian embassy here on Wednesday, Page said the Rp178 billion aid package will in three years be prioritized on efforts to overcome heavy safety challenges of air and sea transportation in Indonesia.

A change in supervision and transportation safety services in Indonesia is part of practical steps to be taken, said Page who is in Indonesia to attend the flight safety meeting this week.

"The outcome of an assessment on transportation safety by the Indonesian government and the International Civil Aviation Organization will be used in a working program we are trying to develop and this information will be followed by a joint workshop in Indonesia in next few months," Page said.

On the sidelines of a meeting in Bali this week, officials of the two countries` transportation services discussed how the aid package could be used.

In the meantime, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer warmly welcomed the news on the progress reached in the Bali meeting in identifying objects that could be the subject of the aid target.

"The Australian transportation institution has cooperated closely with Indonesia as its partner in the past few years including a program funded by Australia, valued at A$1.1 million (Rp7 billion) in the 2006-2007 period. At least 340 Indonesian flight safety officials have been trained in international standards," he said.

Earlier, Chairman of the Indonesian National Air Carriers Association (INACA) Rusdi Kirana said the focus of his side`s recommendation was on improvement in quality and quantity of flight personnel in anticipation of the ASEAN aviation liberalization (Open Sky) in 2008.

Sea transit bill awaits new safety information

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Transportation Ministry has said that the draft of the sea transportation bill is almost complete and is only waiting on safety information.

"We are gathering a list of crucial problems before we can formulate any amendments to the sea transportation bill draft," Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal told reporters on Wednesday.

"The draft is about 60 to 70 percent complete."

Jusman added that the sea transportation bill could not be deliberated simultaneously with the aviation bill at the House.

"They should be deliberated in a series. Judging from their content and entry, the sea transportation bill has the priority."

Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said that once the draft was submitted there would be no retraction of the bill.

"There will be only progress instead of retreat," he said.

The Indonesian Transport Community had earlier said that many sea accidents occurred because of the incompetence of the crew, particularly captains. Many ships were also too old to be running, it said.

A legislator from House's Commission V overseeing transportation affairs, Abdullah Aswar Anas, told The Jakarta Post that the House would discuss the aviation bill first because the sea transportation bill was not yet ready.

"We are ready to deliberate the sea transportation bill. However, we will wait until the new minister understands the content of the sea transportation draft," said Aswar, who represents the National Awakening Party.

Jusman said that in order to increase aviation security and safety, airport operators should create a detailed road map according to international safety standards.

"Dangerous goods should be segregated to increase security. In safety, motorcycles should be banned from entering specific areas of the airport," he said.

"Local airports also have to be classified by the international industry as safe."

As for new commercial airlines, such as Lorena Air, which is due to begin operation soon, Jusman said that airlines should compete with each other in a good way.

"Don't just drop the ticket prices and disregard safety issues," he said.

Domestic travel industry shows signs of recovery

Debnath Guharoy, Consultant, The Jakarta Post

Though the Indonesian transport industry has yet to make a full recovery from the crash of September 2005, it is on an upward trend.

It is poised to win back much of the ground lost as a consequence of the fuel price hikes that year. There will be no fundamental change in the demographics of travelers, either.

The number of females taking trips will be almost as many as the number of males. The younger population will be traveling more than their counterparts who are older than-50, as was the case in the past.

The number of short-trip travellers has always been higher than for long trips. The actual number of short-trip travellers each quarter is traditionally about 10 percent higher than the number of people who are intending to travel.

This is a characteristic of the industry, reflecting the need for unforeseen or unplanned travel sometimes. Similarly, the intention to travel on long trips is usually about 20 percent higher than the number of long trips taken as aspirations and plans get affected by the pressing demands of everyday life.

From 26 million travellers who moved around by land in the 12 months to March 2005, the number dipped to below 18 million as of December 2005, and has gradually clawed its way back to over 21 million at the close of 2006.

Demand overall is still lower, with around 16 million people currently intending to travel in the next 12 months. This includes some 7 million long-trip intenders, over a million of whom will scuttle their plans for unforeseen reasons. That number should be more than compensated for by the number of unplanned short-trip takers, as usual.

This forecast is based on the land, sea and air travel trends continuously measured by Roy Morgan Single Source, without including the everyday use of transportation. Indonesia's largest syndicated survey, the study is now expanding to include over 27,000 respondents this year, projected to reflect the behavior of 90 percent of the population over the age of 14.

Not surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of travel is within Indonesia. The most popular form of transport is by land, such as buses and trains, followed by air and sea. Only one in seven people get to travel each year, mostly from the mid- and lower-income brackets, in keeping with the structure of Indonesian society. Travel tapers off with age.

However, air travel is not the sole prerogative of Indonesia's small upper-income bracket. Understandably, a disproportionately bigger number of the well-to-do travels by air, but there are just as many less fortunates traveling by air within the country.

Of all Indonesians flying both domestic and international routes, two out of three are traveling for personal reasons or on holiday. If jet fuel prices remain stable and there are no more horror stories, for a while at least, the aviation industry should continue its steady recovery and achieve new heights.

Of the three big metros, Greater Jakarta, Greater Surabaya and Greater Bandung, it is the residents of West Java's capital that are the nation's most avid travellers. 26 percent of the people of Bandung, 24 percent of the people of Surabaya and 16 percent of Jakartans intend to travel next in the next 12 months.

While most of them will, of course, travel to visit family and friends within Indonesia, there are currently almost 2 million people around the country who would like to go overseas next year. About 1.5 million want to travel within the Asia Pacific region, 330,000 to Europe, 150,000 to America and 50,000 to Australia.

I should point out that they include all Indonesian frequent flyers, but exclude resident expatriates and travellers from overseas. To state the obvious, some people fly often but will be counted only as one person, not as several "passengers". As always, plans for about 20 percent of intenders are likely to fall by the wayside.

While the so-called War on Terror continues, Bali and Indonesia as a whole will remain adversely affected in the minds of overseas visitors, especially those from the West. But with the domestic consumer economy chugging along nicely, the potential to encourage internal and regional travellers remains a viable prospect for airlines and hotels alike.

-- The writer can be reached at Debnath.Guharoy@roymorgan.com

Govt to make 15 new ferries until 2009

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The government is planning to build 15 new ferries until 2009 to replace old ones, a transportation official said here Wednesday.

"The program will hopefully improve people`s confidence in sea transportation," spokesman of the Transportation Ministry`s transportation system division NM Teweng told a meeting on West Nusatenggara (NTB) development planning taking place here April 16-19.

Many participants of the meeting had lodged complaints about old ferries which were still being used in inter-island transportation in NTB province.

They also expressed dissatisfaction about the condition of special ferry ports in NTB which only had worn-out ferries.

Teweng said the government had conducted an audit on all transportation sector modes to improve safety and comfort in transportation services.

He said the government was committed to improving national transportation service, safety and human resources development, science/technology improvement, energy saving and transportation business betterment in order to restore people`s confidence in the transportation sector.

Deadly accidents in air,sea and land transportation have befallen the country during the past few months.

A passenger ship carrying more than 500 people sank on its way from Kalimantan to Java late December while a plane carrying more than 100 passengers went missing on its way from Surabaya city to Manado city early this year.

Major reshuffle for Transportation Ministry

JAKARTA: The Transportation Ministry will soon have a major reshuffle involving the ministry's directors general and secretary general, reports say.

A source who asked to remain anonymous told Antara news agency Monday that the ministry would soon inaugurate new secretary general and directors general of sea, air and land transportation, following a series of national transportation accidents.

"Tjuk Sukardiman will be the new secretary general, replacing current secretary general Wendy Aritenang," the source said, referring to the former director general of sea transportation.

Iskandar Abubakar, Hastjarja Harijogi and Moh. Iksan Tatang are the current directors general of land, sea and air transportation, respectively. -- JP

Indonesia's public transport perils

By Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Jakarta

In a country of 220 million people, spread across some 17,000 islands, transport systems are crucial to keeping Indonesia moving.

But transport statistics here make worrying reading for passengers.

Last year, there was an aircraft incident recorded every nine to 10 days - planes that crashed, almost crashed, missed the runway, were forced into emergency landing or had technical problems.

There were two train crashes or derailments every month, and at least eight accidents at sea.

These are official statistics. The real figures, say analysts, are probably even higher.

This year has got off to a particularly bad start.

On New Year's Day, a passenger plane carrying 102 people disappeared from radar screens near the island of Sulawesi.

Rescue teams were already out in the Java Sea at the time, looking for hundreds of victims of a ferry disaster that had happened two days earlier.

Around the same time, a ferry carrying 58 people sank off the coast of Sumatra, a speedboat went missing near Kalimantan, a train derailed in Central Java and two other minor airline incidents have been reported.

Poor investment

Tough questions are being asked about why Indonesians are at so much risk when they travel.

Bambang Susantono, head of Indonesia's Transport Society, an independent think tank, says that since the economic crisis in the late 1990s, investment has been a big problem.

"The government doesn't have enough money to build the infrastructure it needs; things like repairing damaged ports, or making improvements to airports," he said.

According to the Transport Society, hundreds of millions of US dollars are needed to bring infrastructure up to standard.

The government denies it is risking safety, but does admit that it needs more money.

Not everyone, though, agrees that the solution is to bring in the private sector.

Air and sea transportation have already been partly liberalised.

The result is a mushrooming of cheaper, budget carriers, which now account for around two-thirds of the incidents reported on scheduled flights.

That is something that worries Bambang Sustanono.

"Our concern is that they cut costs by simplifying safety procedures," he said.

"You hear stories about instruments not working, or pilots working long hours. It's a signal that something has to be fixed in the airline industry."

The plane lost at the beginning of 2007 was operated by budget carrier Adam Air.

Twenty-nine of its pilots have resigned in recent years, and several have made allegations that the company pressured its pilots to fly unsafe planes.

The company denies the allegations, and a court case is in progress.

With so much murkiness around the causes of disasters, people are increasingly turning to the government and asking why it is so difficult to enforce safety regulations.

Wendy Aritenang, Secretary-General of the Transport Ministry, says the government needs to catch up with a rapidly growing industry - deploying more inspectors, enforcing regulations better and encouraging passengers to report on negligent operators.

Reappraisal

At Kota railway station in north Jakarta, the problems of maintaining crumbling networks are worryingly familiar.

A technician, waiting out his shift in a dark office on the platform, told us that he and his colleagues were simply "forcing the trains to go".

"The trains are very old," he said, "and there's a lack of spare parts. The attitude of our superiors is [to] make the best of what we've got; so we cannibalise the broken engines to fix the others."

A bill going through parliament now is set to open up the railway network to private operators in the next few years.

Government regulations are going to need to catch up fast to stop safety problems growing.

The spotlight has been on air operators in recent years, but Indah Suksmaningsih from Indonesia's Consumer Association says this attention does not mean safety on cheaper forms of transport is any better.

She believes the lack of a safety culture, combined with a reluctance among poorer Indonesians to make complaints, means operators often get off without penalties.

But Bambang Sustanono believes the growing focus on air safety, following de-regulation, is forcing a reappraisal of safety issues on all forms of transport.

At the start of 2007, the president announced the formation of a new transport committee to assess what needs to be done across the industry - a process Wendy Aritenang says his ministry has already begun.

He is confident this is the right time to push for more liberalisation in the transport sector.

"We give opportunities to the private sector," he told me, "but not a blank cheque. We give opportunities, but also responsibilities. I think this is a good way to improve the transport sector."

Commuters waiting for their trains here at Kota station say they broadly welcome the idea of private investment in the railways.

The possibility of cheaper fares goes down well with the poor majority here, and there is a hope that competition might improve the quality too.

But making - and keeping - the railways safe will need massive investment, something analysts say many sea and air operators have so far been unable or unwilling to provide.

And if the government cannot pay, passengers here may need to make a choice between lower fares and higher safety standards.