Anchored in paperwork<\/p>\n
The recent wave of complaints about the long demurrage time
\nand high handling costs at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok seaport, the
\ncountry's largest ocean gateway, should cause great concern for
\nan obvious reason. Seaports play a very crucial role in
\ndetermining the competitive edge of our products because most
\nexport merchandise and imports of industrial materials and
\ncapital goods flow through the ports.<\/p>\n
It was therefore quite rational that when the government
\nembarked on a massive reform of the high-cost economy in the mid-
\n1980s, the seaports got the top priority. A series of regulations
\nwere issued in April, 1983, regarding the general guidelines for
\nport management and the realignment of all the major ports under
\nthe management of four state-owned port corporations. Each
\ncorporation was assigned to manage several ports. Since port
\nservices require the involvement of many government agencies and
\nprivate firms, each port is assigned an administrator as
\ncoordinator.<\/p>\n
However, since the realignment of the port management turned
\nout to be ineffective in substantially reducing delays and
\nsurcharges, the government came up with a much bolder reform
\nmeasure in April, 1985. The corruption-ridden and rule-bound
\ncustoms service was stripped of its customs inspection authority
\nand a pre-shipment inspection system was introduced. The measure
\nseemed to have been effective in facilitating smooth flows of
\nexports and imports.<\/p>\n
But now, 10 years later, the old problems of delays and red
\ntape seem to be recurring, especially at Tanjung Priok. One of
\nthe main reasons, we think, is the overlapping of authority at
\nthe port between that of the port administrator and that of the
\nport corporation. Another reason is the slow expansion of the
\nport's handling capacity in sharp contrast with the steady
\nincrease in the volume of cargo traffic.<\/p>\n
Since Jakarta and its surrounding areas remain the favorite
\nsites for new industrial plants, the rate of increase in the
\ncargo traffic through Tanjung Priok has been much higher than
\nthrough other ports. Last year, for example, international cargo
\ntraffic totaled almost 21 million tons, of which 16.5 million
\ntons were imports. The total did not include inter-island cargo
\nflow.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, we share the observations of most importers that
\nthe main reason behind the delays is poor management. The Port
\nCorporation II which manages Tanjung Priok did make a
\nbreakthrough in 1985 when it instituted a one-stop service center
\nfor the processing of berthing permits and other documents and
\nfor controlling tugs, pilotage, water supply and stevedoring
\nservices. But the center seemed unable to work properly. Worse
\nstill, while the load work (paperwork) has been increasing
\nsteadily along with the rise in cargo traffic, the port
\ncorporation has not improved its information management and data
\nprocessing system.<\/p>\n
Because port operations involve so many government agencies
\nand require a wide variety of services, such as equipment
\nhandling, trailers, water and bunker oil provision, provided by
\ndifferent private suppliers, as well as the processing of
\ndocuments, a centralized command, control and communication
\ncenter is crucial. Port users, notably freighters, should have
\nelectronic links (electronic data interfacing) with the center
\nfor on-line submission and declaration of their plans, manifests,
\nrequests for services, customs, immigration and quarantine
\ndocuments well in advance of their berthings.<\/p>\n
Such a centralized information system would enable the port
\ncompany to mobilize all the back-up equipment, such as trailers,
\ntranstrainers and straddle carriers, in a timely manner to
\nefficiently manage the movement and stacking of containers and to
\nalert the suppliers of all other services required by the ships.<\/p>\n
We don't think simply increasing the amount of handling
\nequipment will solve the problem of delays. Neither will it
\nincrease the port throughput (productivity) as long as all the
\nplayers or suppliers involved in the port services are not yet
\nelectronically linked with a centralized operation command
\ncenter.<\/p>\n
Port operations involve both the physical movement of goods
\nand the processing of documents by relevant government agencies.
\nAs long as the bulk of document processing is still done manually
\nthrough personal contacts, delays will continue to occur and the
\ncosts of exporting and importing through Tanjung Priok will
\nremain much higher than at other ports like Singapore. And
\nTanjung Priok will become notorious as the window on Indonesia's
\nhigh-cost economy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/anchored-in-paperwork-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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