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Director to monitor lake, river transportation
In the wake of deadly incidents involving passenger vessels, the Transportation Ministry plans to improve monitoring by appointing a director in charge of river and lake transportation across the country
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n the wake of deadly incidents involving passenger vessels, the Transportation Ministry plans to improve monitoring by appointing a director in charge of river and lake transportation across the country.
So far, the job has been carried out by an officer, one grade lower than a director.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said recently the water transportation issue would be handled by a director under the directorate general of land transportation.
“The second echelon [official] under [the directorate general] for land transportation will monitor all [transportation] activities on rivers and lakes across Indonesia,” the minister said.
Budi said with the appointment of a director, the ministry would then have the authority to take charge of water transportation monitoring duties, which had so far been shared between the ministry and regional administrations.
Budi added the ministry was also considering establishing offices in the regions to deal with water transportation monitoring.
“Because competency in the regions is still not of the maximum [standard],” he said.
Commenting on the appointment of a director to deal with water transportation, Siswanto Rusdi, the director of the National Maritime Institute, said the move might not be effective after all.
“If the safety aspect is still under the [directorate general] for sea transportation, it will not be effective,” he said, implying that the safety rule should also be adopted by the directorate general for land transportation.
The regulation on ship safety and inspections, among other things, is mostly under the directorate general for sea transportation within the ministry. It has adapted the standards conveyed in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) for conventional ships.
The transportation minister has sent the official letter to Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Asman Abnur on the matter and expects the new position to be established within a month.
“But prior to that, we have established an adhoc team in Lake Toba,” he said, referring to a special team set up recently to improve the level of safety on North Sumatra’s popular lake since the accident in June.
KM Sinar Bangun capsized in the 500-meter-deep Lake Toba on June 18 on a trip from Simanindo to Tigaras amid the bad weather, reportedly with hundreds of passengers and dozens of motorcycles on board.
The government has announced it was only able to rescue 21 passengers. Three people were found dead and 164 others have been reported missing and feared to be inside the sunken vessel, although it remains uncertain how many of those were actually on board.
In addition, the ministry also plans to focus on improve safety monitoring in a number of places across Indonesia, including around Batang Hari River in Jambi, Musi River in South Sumatra, Kapuas River in West Kalimantan, Mahakam River which is also in Kalimantan, as well as spots in Riau Islands and Maluku.
Stricter monitoring is deemed crucial, especially considering another accident involving a passenger boat recently took place, which claimed 16 people in waters off Makassar, South Sulawesi. Some 55 passengers survived and two passengers were reported missing.
