Truck drivers who have been stuck in a massive traffic jam for more than a week rest in their trucks. -- PHOTO: AFP
MERAK (Indonesia) - INDONESIAN truck drivers stuck in a massive traffic jam for more than a week said on Tuesday they had been forced to sell their belongings such as mobile phones to buy food.
In a graphic example of infrastructure bottlenecks in South-east Asia's biggest economy, the jam stretches for 11km and has ensnared some 2,000 lorries.
It has choked the flow of goods by road and ferry from Merak port in west Java to Bakauheni port in south-east Sumatra, a crossing that should take less than three hours but has stranded some drivers since Feb 21.
Hungry and tired drivers said they just wanted to go home and expressed fury at the government's failure to ease traffic snarls that hamper trade and business across the sweeping archipelago, including the capital Jakarta.
'I've been stuck here for three days and I'm getting impatient. I've run out of money so I sold my mobile phone to buy food,' 35-year-old driver Surono told AFP.
'This is the third time I've been stuck in a traffic jam here this month and I really don't know what's the cause.' Another driver, 45-year-old Endin, said thieves had looted his vehicle while he was taking a nap. -- AFP
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