Wednesday, October 15, 2014

[KU-283/2014] On the Rails With Ignasius Jonan


By Sara Schonhardt

Ignasius Jonan has a thing for numbers.

He likes to say he is the longest-serving director of Indonesia’s state-owned rail company, Kereta Api Indonesia. And he attributes his longevity – five years and seven months – to sticking to the bottom line, whether or not people like it.

Mr. Jonan, 51, is one of several hard-talking former business people brought in to reform the government’s inefficient state-owned enterprises, and he’s done just that. The train service currently serves around 270 million passengers a year, 50% more than it did when Mr. Jonan took over Kereta Api five years ago. Freight loads have doubled to nearly 30 million tons per year, he says.

Expanding Indonesia’s rail system could go a long way toward solving some of the major infrastructure shortfalls that irk investors. But during a recent discussion organized by Jakarta’s Foreign Correspondents Club, Mr. Jonan says the government hasn’t made rail one of its priorities, and he’s tired of fighting bureaucrats for money. A look at some of the numbers he loves.

80 cents
The cost of a ticket from Jakarta to the satellite city of Bogor is 9,000 rupiah (less than 80 cents), and at prices like that people have no reason to bellyache about service says Mr. Jonan. He said people expect too much, such as wanting the train to be smooth and unpacked, at such low ticket prices. “You can sit and arrive on time – and arrive alive,” he said of what should be appreciated. Low fares have not kept the government-run train service, from turning a profit, improving safety and putting money toward an aggressive expansion, which may be why Mr. Jonan has no problem brushing off complaints about hot, congested trains.

1.2 million
Kereta Api aims to double capacity to 1.2 million passengers a day by 2018, and Mr. Jonan is certain it will happen, with or without him at the helm. “The question is, if we achieve 1.2 million passengers a day in terms of capacity will the commuter [trains] still be crowded? The answer is most probably yes,” he says.

7,500 kilometers
The length of new track Kereta Api aims to build by 2020 across Indonesia’s five major islands – Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Papua. “The railways have to be there,” Mr. Jonan says.

Kereta Api currently has 5,000 kilometers of track; two-thirds in Java and one-third in Sumatra, and Mr. Jonan says the goal is to add at least 2,500 kilometers of track to the three islands of Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Papua. Such an aggressive expansion plan could draw in private investors, but Mr. Jonan says low profit margins, the need for big investment outlays and the highly regulated nature of the industry make it less attractive to the private sector. “It’s not a sexy industry,” he says.

$20 billion
The cost of building 10,000 kilometers of double track, Mr. Jonan estimates. At current prices, that’s less than the amount of the government budget that goes toward funding a year of fuel subsidies. According to his calculation, if the government cut the fuel subsidy by just one-third, within five years it could help finance another 10,000 kilometers of rail track for Indonesia’s five major islands. Kereta Api does turn a profit, which is necessary to fund improvements in safety and service, but Mr. Jonan says profits are limited by ticket prices, which he feels compelled to keep affordable so that everyone can ride the train. One solution: expand the company’s freight network. Despite being a nation of thousands of islands, Kereta Api is its largest freight operator, and doing so could boost revenues.

400
The number of emails Mr. Jonan says he writes each day. He also travels at least 10,000 kilometers by train each month, he says. Since taking over the company, Mr. Jonan has issued a train-wide smoking ban and added women-only cars – a controversial move aimed at improving security after a series of sexual harassment complaints from female passengers in 2010. He ran female-only trains for just a year, then dropped them in favor of female-only carriages. “I embrace a non-gendered sentiment,” says Mr. Jonan, who met his wife on the rails. This year he won widespread praise for ensuring the annual Eid al-Fitr exodus that marks the end of the Islamic fasting month went smoothly by adding more trains.

Source : The Wall Street Journal, 29.09.14.


[Bahasa Indonesia] Naik Kereta Api Bersama Ignasius Jonan

Jonan, 51 tahun, adalah satu di antara sekian mantan pengusaha yang diminta memperbaiki BUMN bobrok. Dan ia berhasil. KAI kini melayani sekitar 270 juta penumpang per tahun, 50% lebih banyak ketimbang masa sebelum Jonan menjabat. Angkutan barang meningkat dua kali lipat hingga nyaris mencapai 30 juta ton per tahun, ucapnya.

Perluasan sistem perkeretapian di Indonesia bukan hal mudah menyusul minimnya infrastruktur yang membuat para investor dongkol. Namun, dalam pembicaraan di forum Jakarta’s Foreign Correspondents Club, Jonan mengatakan pembangunan jalur kereta api bukan prioritas pemerintah.

Berikut sejumlah angka yang sering diangkat oleh Jonan.

Rp9.000
Ongkos dari Jakarta ke Bogor adalah Rp9.000. Dengan tarif itu, para penumpang tidak berhak mengeluhkan kualitas layanan, ujarnya. Menurutnya, para penumpang berharap terlalu banyak, seperti misal perjalanan yang tidak terganggu dan penumpang yang tidak berdesakan, dengan tiket seharga itu. “[Penumpang] dapat tiba tepat waktu–dalam keadaan hidup,” ujarnya suatu ketika. Rendahnya tarif membuat layanan tersebut sulit menangguk laba, memperbaiki tingkat keselamatan, dan berekspansi.

1,2 juta
KAI bertujuan melipatgandakan kapasitas penumpang hingga 1,2 juta per hari pada 2018, dan Jonan yakin itu akan dicapai dengan atau tanpa kepemimpinannya. “Pertanyaannya adalah jika jumlah 1,2 juta penumpang per hari terpenuhi, apakah kereta komuter masih akan penuh sesak? Jawabannya, kemungkinan besar ya,” ujarnya.

7.500 kilometer
Panjang jalur baru yang ditargetkan akan dibangun pada 2020 di lima pulau utama tanah air–Sumatera, Jawa, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, dan Papua. “Di sana harus ada kereta,” ujar Jonan.

Panjang rel kereta api sekarang 5.000 km; dua per tiga berada di Jawa, dan sepertiganya di Sumatera. Jonan mengatakan tujuannya adalah menambah setidaknya 2.500 km rel di Sulawesi, Kalimantan, dan Papua. Rencana ekspansi yang agresif itu dapat menarik investor swasta. Namun, Jonan mengatakan bahwa rendahnya margin keuntungan, kebutuhan akan besarnya investasi, dan industri yang diatur secara ketat membuatnya kurang menarik investor swasta. “Industri [kereta api] tidak seksi,” ujarnya.

$20 miliar
Ongkos pembangunan rel ganda sepanjang 10.000 km, demikian taksiran Jonan. Dengan kisaran sekarang, angka itu lebih kecil dari jumlah yang dikeluarkan pemerintah untuk menggelontorkan subsidi bahan bakar minyak selama setahun. Menurut perhitungannya, jika pemerintah memangkas subsidi energi hingga sepertiganya, dalam lima tahun alokasi dana dapat ikut membiayai pembangunan 10.000 rel tambahan bagi lima pulau utama. KAI memang mendapat untung, hal yang diperlukan untuk membiayai perbaikan keselamatan dan layanan. Namun, menurut Jonan, laba terbatas didapatkan dari tiket, yang tarifnya tidak dinaikkan agar tetap terjangkau. Solusinya: perluas jejaring angkutan barang KAI. Meski Indonesia adalah negara kepulauan, KAI adalah operator pengangkutan barang terbesar. Penerimaan dapat didongkrak dengan ekspansi.

400
Jumlah email yang Jonan tulis tiap hari. Ia juga bepergian setidaknya 10.000 km dengan kereta tiap bulan. Sejak mengambil alih KAI, Jonan menerapkan larangan merokok ke semua jenis kereta dan menyediakan gerbong khusus penumpang perempuan demi meningkatkan keamanan kaum wanita menyusul serangkaian kasus pelecehan di kereta pada 2010. Kereta khusus perempuan hanya berlaku selama setahun, dan digantikan dengan gerbong khusus. “Saya tidak memiliki sentimen gender,” ujar Jonan, yang bertemu dengan perempuan yang kemudian menjadi istrinya dalam sebuah perjalanan berkereta-api. Tahun ini, ia mendapatkan pujian luas karena berhasil menyelenggarakan angkutan mudik dengan baik melalui penambahan kereta.

Sumber : The Wall Street Journal - Indonesia, 30.09.14.

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