Jakarta to overhaul entire transport system

Plan unveiled as US officials warn travellers to avoid Indonesian airlines
The Straits Times, April 18, 2007
By Devi Asmarani, INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT



FATAL ACCIDENTS: The smouldering wreckage of the Garuda aircraft that crashed at Yogyakarta airport on March 7, killing 21 people. The US aviation authorities have warned American travellers against using Indonesian airlines because of their poor safety record. The Indonesian Transport Minister has vowed to revamp the system by 2009. -- REUTERS



JAKARTA - THE United States safety authorities have advised American travellers not to use Indonesian airlines because of their poor safety record.

Indonesian Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa concurred with this assessment, but pledged to fix the problem over the next few years.

In a message sent to American citizens in Indonesia yesterday, the US Embassy here cited an audit by the Indonesian civil aviation agency which revealed that none of its domestic airlines is in excellent condition.

'Whenever possible, Americans travelling to and from Indonesia should fly directly to their destinations on international carriers from countries whose civil aviation authorities meet international aviation safety standards,' the embassy said.

Admitting that most of the aircraft, railway tracks and ships in the country are outdated, Mr Hatta announced a plan to revamp Indonesia's entire transport system, which has been hit hard by a series of fatal accidents in recent months.

'We understand that the future of Indonesian transportation development is totally dependent on its safety and security record,' Mr Hatta told journalists as he unveiled the Roadmap for Enhancement of Safety in National Transportation.

Land, air and sea travel will be much safer by 2009, he said, after the massive efforts to modernise facilities and infrastructure, improve safety and security standards and enforce stricter laws on operators.

Noting that most of the domestic airlines operate aircraft that are about 20 years old, Mr Hatta added that many airports are also poorly equipped, lacking crucial equipment such as the Instrument Landing System, which helps aircraft land.

Investigations into the March 7 Garuda plane crash that killed 21 people at Yogyakarta airport found last week that the shorter-than-recommended safety run-off section at the end of the runway and the airport's poor accident management might have contributed to the severity of the accident.

Under the plan to overhaul about 36 airports across the country, ageing navigational radars will be replaced and the Instrument Landing System and X-ray detectors will be installed, Mr Hatta said.

There are also plans to build more runways and taxiways at the airports and provide more fire-fighting units, he said.

The authorities are also considering imposing a limit on the age of imported aircraft in the country to no more than 10 years.

Both airline and airport operators will be assessed on their compliance to international standards, and crew such as pilots, technicians and inspectors will undergo more training and scrutiny of their qualifications, Mr Hatta said.

'There will be severe punishment for those who fail to comply with the laws and the standards,' he said.

An audit of 54 aviation companies in the country last month revealed that none made it to the first of three rating categories, while six were given a warning to comply with safety regulations in three months or face closure.

To implement the plan, Mr Hatta said the government will double the state budget for the transport sector to about 16 trillion rupiah (S$2.7 billion) next year, including 3.5 trillion rupiah set aside for air transport.

'This amount is still small, so we need to combine it with foreign direct investment, public-private schemes and also from infrastructure funding that is going to be set up by the Ministry of Finance,' he said.

Indonesia, an archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, relies largely on air transportation.

The country has been plagued by a string of transport-related accidents, triggering calls for Mr Hatta to resign.

On this issue, the minister said: 'I have discussed with the President and the Vice-President - it is up to the President. Whatever his decision, I will follow.'

In January, an Adam Air jet crashed into the sea off the island of Sulawesi with 102 people on board. There were no survivors.

About the same time, a ferry carrying 58 people sank off the coast of Sumatra, a speedboat went missing near Kalimantan and a train derailed in Central Java.