REUTERS, Mon 8 Jan 2007 4:19 AM ET
Indonesian transport safety comes under spotlight
By Harry Suhartono
JAKARTA, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A week after an Indonesian plane vanished without a
trace, the question on everybody's lips is: how can a huge aircraft just disappear from
radar screens in this age of sophisticated satellite technology?
Nobody has any answers yet.
Some experts say poor technology and safety procedures are to blame for Indonesia's
spotty transportation record.
In the space of a few days over the New Year period, a plane belonging to budget
carrier Adam Air vanished and a ferry carrying more than 600 people sank. Some 400
of the vessel's passengers and crew are still missing.
Subsequently, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered an evaluation of the
nation's transportation system.
Transport officials have insisted the Adam Air Boeing 737-400 was airworthy and had
no record of trouble.
But as search teams scour the seas and mountains -- and some villagers reportedly
slaughtered a buffalo to help in the hunt for the airliner -- few were optimistic about the
transportation system in the sprawling archipelago.
"There are many problems that cause this kind of accident. It's about bad
communications, bad operators, people who don't obey the procedures and lack of
supervision," said Joseph Umar Hadi, an opposition member of the parliament's
transport commission.
"They will say they have met the required safety standard. The government will also
say the same. But I am not really sure if operators have truly applied appropriate
safety procedures."
Experts said the proliferation of budget carriers since the deregulation of the sector in
1999 was one reason for the poor safety record as some airlines invested little and
used relatively old planes.
According to Aviation Safety Network, an international aviation safety monitoring
group, Indonesia has one of the worst aviation safety records in the world.
Kompas newspaper reported on Sunday, citing data from the country's search and
rescue and transport ministry data, that between 2001 and 2005, Indonesia had 74
plane accidents that killed 284 and injured 197.
Calls for tighter control
Critics have also raised questions about Indonesia's ground control monitoring after a
signal from an emergency locator beacon from the 17-year-old Boeing 737-400 was
picked up by a Singapore satellite but not by Jakarta.
Toni Prasetiantono, chief economist of PT Bank Negara Indonesia, said the
government must tighten its controls, through periodic monitoring of companies.
Bambang Susantono, the chairman of Indonesia's Transportation Society, disagreed
technology was inadequate. "I don't agree that we do not master or don't have
adequate technology," he said. "The problem is in the operation and maintenance."
The aviation sector isn't the only one plagued with problems.
Ferry accidents are also common as ferries, the cheapest and often the only means
of transportation between some of Indonesia's 17,000 islands, are frequently
overloaded and sometimes do not have enough life jackets.
Despite the sea accidents, data from the transportation ministry shows the number of
accidents and deaths at sea declined 44 percent and 58 percent respectively between
2001 and 2005.
The number of railway accidents and deaths also declined by 36 percent and 75
percent respectively in the same period.
"We really need a clear picture about (Indonesia's) transportation system before the
government can decide how to improve it," Susantono said.
"What is important is to bring back confidence among Indonesians about the
transportation system."
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