Letter: Soekarno-Hatta airport: Liability?
| Wed, 09/01/2010 10:17 AM
I said it before and I say it again: Soekarno-Hatta International
airport is totally not just an embarrassment, but a serious liability
for Indonesia!
Does it need a fatal accident, with the loss of lives as well as
material, e.g. a plane crash in Jakarta’s skies due to the radar system
failing again or because of another long-lasting power blackout, before
this government finally realizes it had better build a new, state of the
art airport as soon as possible?
It should simultaneously also seriously train competent personnel to run
it later, people who have been with the new facility since its
inception and truly know the ins and outs of both the buildings and the
equipment as well as all the systems to operate everything.
In the mean-time, while awaiting the completion of this new airport and
commencement of its operations, the old, decrepit one at Cengkareng
should be totally revamped, not just the infra-structure and facilities,
but above all its management.
The latter, judging from the past incidents, is even more obsolete and light-years behind than poor old Soekarno-Hatta itself.
V.T. Hopkins
Jakarta
