For several days, hundreds of frustrated truck drivers have had to eat and sleep on the road to the port city of Merak, Banten.
A shortage of ferries making the crossing to Lampung has been blamed for the 12-kilometer snarl of vehicles that has almost led to a riot among the tired and hungry drivers.
About a hundred officers from the police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) were dispatched on Saturday to defuse the situation, and by nightfall local residents were reportedly seen bringing food to the drivers.
With 14 of the 33 ships that normally serve the route in disrepair — blamed on factors including poor port management, capacity and policies — the government over the weekend dispatched ferries to help clear the backlog, which officials said would take at least five days.
The damage has been done, though. Perishable goods like fruit and vegetables have rotted. Reports say the prices of chili and tofu in some markets in Lampung have already increased as a result. Some of the drivers reportedly resorted to selling some of their cargo to buy food and drink.
Unfortunately, this kind of bottleneck is not uncommon for Indonesia, which ranked 75th in the World Bank’s recent Logistics Performance Index, below neighboring Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
“The government is being irresponsible because the gridlock in Merak happens every year,” Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
“If the government can’t manage the ports, leave it to the private sector or open up competition.”
Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo acknowledged on Friday that poor infrastructure was hampering the government’s target of 7 percent growth by 2014.
“So far, infrastructure development has not progressed as expected,” he said. “There are a lot of public-private partnership programs that don’t work.”
To address the issue, Agus said the government may start making cuts to the budget. “It’s time to tighten our belts and set our priorities straight,” he said.
This year, the transportation budget is set at Rp 43.8 trillion ($4.95 billion), lower than the budget for defense (Rp 45.2 trillion), social welfare (Rp 61.5 trillion) and food and energy subsidies (Rp 108 trillion).
“Infrastructure is the key to development,” Agus said. “Investors are looking for guarantees and the government is ready to meet that.”
Sofyan said the government itself should be tightening its belt, though. “Why not reduce the cost of holding seminars, travel visits, conferences and government summits?” he said.