JAKARTA: Indonesia's economic structure is remarkably
sturdy as it has weathered the global slump of 2008/09 surprisingly well. Over
the past decade, growth figures were above 4.6 percent and, unlike many of its
neighbours, it has been in a relatively stable political condition during this
period. The country's chronic infrastructure woes, however, could jeopardize
the sustainability of this growth.
Traffic jams due to a fourishing automotive sales (1.2
million units; 2013) and limited development of new roads are causing losses on
a large scale. The Indonesia railway has yet to live up to its role as the
backbone of the country's transportation system.
During this opportune era of nation building the Ministry
of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) gave the task to revamp PT
KAI to Ignasius Jonan who, since appointment in 2009, has undertaken
every major decision for the sake of making PT KAI a customer-focused &
service-oriented company, as all public service companies should be.
"As a mode of transportation for both passengers and
cargo, the position of the railway is becoming increasingly important,
particularly on an island as densely populated as Java. Comparing our situation
to California, which has only 55-60 million inhabitants, Java on the other hand
has 120 million. Revamping efforts became crucial, or else our logistics costs
would be disrupted. We wouldn't use air transport to travel from Cirebon to
Tegal, or to reach the regency of Pekalongan, for example, because there simply
is no airline service to reach these regions," Jonan pointed out.
Considering the chronic financial problems PT KAI found
itself in 2008, most capable CEO's would have shun away from such an
appointment. Jonan was considered the right man for the job, perhaps because he
had a proven track record for getting companies into a positive direction: From
1989-1990 he turn around the tax consulting division of Arthur Andersen in the
firm's Surabaya office, from 2001-2006 he turned around Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia.
Then he re-established the investment banking business for Citigroup in Indonesia
from 2006-2008.
Jonan aims to do more than put PT KAI on track. He is
working on 2 goals targets. Most urgent is the constructing of the 12,3 km
double track Batuceper-Soetta Airport service for which reportedly Rp 1.78
billion in PT KAI's funds have been allocated in partnership with PT AP II.
Another goal, Jonan is chasing to increase ridership to 1,2
million/day by 2018 from its current passenger ridership of
approximately 600.000/day. Jonan is a person who gets rid of the strong current
of “Asal
Bapak Senang” Indonesian business culture existing in PT KAI, and he
brings energy to decrease administrative bottlenecks.
Jonan, known as stern and straightforward in moving
corporate agenda forward, seemed as the leader to deal with the chronic
problems at PT KAI. Rejecting a proposed solution to block inter-Java trains
from entering Jakarta at certain times, Jonan said “It’s not going to happened.
You cannot manipulate traffic like that as these sorts of things were the ones
leading to create accidents in the past”.
A commuter line train ticket is currently sold for Rp
5.000 per passenger. “The Indonesians middle class are quite egoistical. If the
train is packed, they complain, even though the ticket price is very very
inexpensive. And the reason for the low price is to achieve good
affordability,” Jonan explained.
On being asked about his decision to combine the economy
AC, and business classes into a single class Jonan responded. “The decision was
based on the consideration that everywhere in the world a public service that
is considered as a basic necessity cannot be differentiated by class,” Jonan
said.
The major challenge according to Jonan in achieving the
improvements he has set for the Indonesian railway is consistency. “And to
foster a culture of consistency we need to use the appropriate ‘stick &
carrot’”.
Information technology was another area Jonan emphasized
to solve the hassles that had become a tradition in the Indonesia Railways
System. The Rail Ticketing System (RTS)
introduce in the past three years was consideres ceucial ini improving the
service rendered to train riders. The system forced all employees to play by
the rules of the organization, eliminating the opportunitu to engage in
corruption related activities.
Moreover, IT was
also a significant help loss in the middle man or pander ticketing sales. The
implementation of the one seat one passenger principle, with the requirement of
having the identical name on the ID card and the ticket.
It has also contributed in easing the process of
obtaining tickets. Today, train tickets can be purchased at mini markets as
well as at the post office, on the website www.kereta-api.co.id. PT KAI was
listed as a finalist among the five awardees for IT innovation during the
Teknologi Informasi Excellence Award 2012 Asia Pasifik in August 2012.
A wind of change appears to be blowing through the PT
KAI. The public, as well as several statesmen have expressed its appreciation
for the positive change with PT KAI, particularly in how the organization has
dealt with the massive annual exodus that occurs on Idul Fitri. It is hoped
that further progress and development will be seen from the railway.
Source : Sorotan Magazine, VOL.XXIII/2/2014, Thursday, 16.07.14.
