INDONESIA TRANSPORTATION MINISTER MEETING

UNCLAS JAKARTA 001690 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT PASS FAA HQ DEPT ALSO PASS NTSB FOR MACINTIRE/BENZON/ENGLISH DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND EB/TRA/AN SINGAPORE FOR FAA-WALSH SINGAPORE FOR TSA-SAHAGIAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON ETRD ID SUBJECT: INDONESIA TRANSPORTATION MINISTER MEETING REFTEL: A)JAKARTA 13617, B)JAKARTA 00015, C)JAKARTA 00023, D)JAKARTA 00050, E)JAKARTA 00108 ¶1. (U) Summary. Charge d'Affaires met with newly appointed Minister of Transportation, Jusman Syafi'i Djalil on June 15 to discuss a variety of transportation issues. The Minister welcomed the July 9 date for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) technical review and hopes it and the July 2 Bali aviation donors conference will continue positive momentum in aviation safety. The Minister discussed the stalled recovery of the flight data recorder ("black box") from the Adam Air flight which crashed into the ocean on January 1. He said there is still no signed contract for recovery, however, Adam Air and Phoenix International are working toward a possible solution. The Minister and Charge also discussed the impending U.S. Coast Guard International Ship and Port Facility Code (ISPS) demarche. Minister Djalil said that in the short term the GOI will focus on increasing ISPS compliance at a core number of larger international ports. End Summary. Increasing Aviation Safety & Security -------------- ¶2. (U) Minister Djalil stated that the Government of Indonesia (GOI) has taken positive steps on aviation safety in recent months and also said the publicized airline ratings and other actions, "show a systematic approach to increasing aviation safety". The GOI will host an aviation donors' conference for partner country governments and private organizations on July 2 in Bali in order to open a dialog on aviation safety improvements. The President of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will attend and address the conference and may meet with President Yudhoyono. Minister Djalil reiterated Indonesia's goal to capture a category three ICAO council seat and asked whether the United States will support Indonesia in this endeavor. Minister Djalil also expressed thanks for FAA assistance and confirmed the July 9 date for the Technical Review. ¶3. (U) The Minister supports the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) goal of promoting aviation security to a directorate level position and thereby increasing the power and visibility of aviation security enforcement. The DGCA also committed to take a 15-20 member team comprised of DGCA, state run airport authority, and airport administration personnel to the United States to meet with the Transportation Security Administration and observe U.S. airport security in August. Adam Air -------------- ¶4. (U) Minister Djalil said that the GOI took to heart the statements of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman during the recent Director General of Civil Aviation's trip to Washington. The GOI brought Adam Air and Phoenix International (an American ROV company) together to discuss timing of a potential recovery of the flight data recorder from the Adam Air crash on January 1 (reftels). Although there is no signed contract as of yet, Adam Air and Phoenix agreed that a remotely operated vehicle will be available the second week of July, however it was not clear if funds were committed for the ROV. The Minister predicted the black boxes would be recovered at the end of July or early August however, Adam Air continues to search for a platform ship for recovery operations. Port Security Heads Up -------------- ¶5. (U) We informed the Minister of the contents of the impending ISPS demarche and the possible ramifications if Indonesia is not found to be ISPS compliant 90 days after demarche delivery. The Charge made it clear that this meeting did not constitute the demarche per se, but that we anticipated instruction on the issue soon. The Minister was aware of the issue and the possibility of demarche and thanked the U.S. Coast Guard for past assistance on the issue. He appreciated the Coast Guard's port visit out-briefs as the GOI successfully used them to conduct improvement audits on the ports visited. He added that with over 100 international ports, the GOI plans to focus ISPS compliance in the short term on a smaller core group of larger international ports. Minister Djalil also stated his view that the main challenge to safety and security in Indonesian ports is the lack of one clear authority over any individual port. The Ministry is currently discussing increasing the authority of the DGST port administrators (AdPels) with port stakeholders and is optimistic an agreement will be forthcoming. HEFFERN