Dahlan rams local sports car into mountain slope
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan (center) prays beside a national electric sports car called Tuxuci during a Javanese cleansing ritual (ruwatan), said to eliminate bad luck, suffering and disaster, in Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday. Despite the ritual, the car was totaled in an accident caused by faulty brakes in Sarangan, Magetan, East Java, at 3 p.m. Dahlan, who drove the car, emerged unscathed from the accident. (JP/Kusumasari Ayuningtyas)
Just a few hours after a Javanese cleansing ritual called ruwatan, locally manufactured electric car Tuxuci, driven by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, plowed into the slope of Mount Lawu in East Java during a test drive on Saturday.
Dahlan and his co-driver, auto mechanic Ricky Elson, came out unscathed, but the car was totaled in the incident at around 3 p.m.
A ministry statement said the car, which is Ferrari red, experienced faulty brakes when speeding down the mountain.
Dahlan, who drove the sports car worth Rp 1.5 billion (US$155,440) from Surakarta, Central Java, to Magetan, veered into the mountainside when the brakes suddenly failed.
“If I didn’t swerve into the slope, the car would have run faster and could have damaged other vehicles,” said Dahlan.
The car did not come to a complete stop after hitting the mountainside and went on to bump into a utility pole. It stopped right in front of another car.
While Dahlan escaped unharmed, the car was totaled, which forced the minister to continue the trip to his hometown in Takeran district, Magetan, in another car.
Despite the accident, Dahlan said he was still proud of the Yogyakarta-manufactured car.
A few hours before the accident, the car underwent the ruwatan ritual in Surakarta. Renowned puppeteer Ki Manteb Soedharsono led the ceremony, believed to dispel misfortune, suffering and disaster.
The Tuxuci was designed by five local auto engineers. Dahlan said the research and production of the car prototype cost Rp 3 billion. Dahlan said the electric car could be the solution to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. (han/lfr)
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