T

he opening of the Suramadu bridge last month, which links Surabaya with Madura, has forced some local ferry operators to reduce their fleet size as passenger numbers fall.

A number of ferry operators said Saturday they had ground six of the 17 boats that served the Ujung-Kamal crossing in East Java and consequently face having to dismiss many of their workers. An agreement was eventually reached between the local administration and the ferry operators to reduce the fleet size after a series of prior negotiations led to a stalemate.

Muhammad Isa Anshor, head of rail, land and water crossing at the East Java transportation office, said the decision was based on "principles of justice and equality" for all boat operators.

The move would not cause a decline in the quality of ferry services provided by the operators, he said.

Isa could not verify where the six grounded boats would be relocated to or if they would remain in operation around the Surabaya-Maduran area.

Wilday Jazuli, the PT Angkutan Sungai Danau dan Penyeberangan (ASDP) Surabaya operational manager, said the reduction in ferries had also affected the schedule, with only eight boats serving the Ujung-Kamal route between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. The remaining three boats serve the Ujung-Kamal route via the Madura strait between 8 p.m. to 6 .a.m.

Prior to the opening of the Suramadu toll bridge, around 10 boats ran between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. every day, with five others throughout the evening and early morning.

The plummeting number of passengers has also forced local transport authorities to close one of the three ferry ports around the Surabaya-Madura area, Wildan said.

The Suramadu bridge opened on June 10 this year, and at 5.4 kilometers in length, it is Indonesia's longest bridge.

PT Pewete Bahtera Kencana, one of six ferry operators in the area, last week laid off 23 workers after switching its two ferries, KMP Aeng Mas I and KMP Banyumas, to a weekly service from its normal daily charter.

Etty, Pewete director, said she was worried the company may shutdown entirely if conditions worsen.

The latest data from the Ujung-Kamal branch of PT Indonesia Ferry ASDP shows that the number of passengers crossing by boat had dropped by 40 percent from 25,000 per day. Motorcycles are down by 50 percent from 10,000 while cars are down by 85 percent from 5,000 daily.

The drop in passenger numbers has also adversely affected informal sector workers such as drivers, port laborers and street vendors.

Ferry operators claim the fallout could be minimized if the government increased the Suramadu bridge toll to "slightly below ferry fees", which currently stand at Rp 70,000 per car, Rp 5,800 per motorcycle and Rp 3,700 per pedestrian.