Custom office attacked for port corruption<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Customs officials are again causing unnecessary
\ndelays and costs at Indonesia's main ports, claim surveying
\ncompanies and importers.<\/p>\n
"The delay in port clearing time in March reached a 'crazy'
\nlevel," Amirudin Saud, the chairman of the Indonesian Importers'
\nAssociation (GINSI), told The Jakarta Post yesterday.<\/p>\n
"Earlier this morning I personally encountered a case of
\ncustoms officials collecting illegal fees," he said.<\/p>\n
Amirudin stated that officials at the Directorate General of
\nCustoms and Excise, who inspect imports at the port, often abuse
\ntheir authority.<\/p>\n
"The delays cost us huge storage fees," he said, without
\nciting a specific figure. "Worse still, some of the imported
\ngoods are needed for production."<\/p>\n
According to a recent survey of joint-ventures and domestic
\ncompanies conducted by the independent consultant Indonesian
\nBusiness Advisory (BAI), customs clearance is among the four most
\ncostly infrastructure constraints. The other three are fuel,
\ntelecommunications and land transactions.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson from BAI told the Post yesterday that about 50
\npercent of respondents found that those infrastructural problems
\nhave remained virtually unimproved in the last five years.<\/p>\n
The government in May 1985 appointed the Swiss Societe
\nGeneralle de Surveillance (SGS) to inspect Indonesian imports
\nworth more than US$5,000 at points of loading, practically
\nputting the notorious Directorate General of Customs and Excise
\nout of work.<\/p>\n
In August 1991, however, the government decided to restore
\nfinal inspection authority to the directorate general.<\/p>\n
The government has also instructed PT Surveyor Indonesia (SI),
\na surveyor company jointly owned by the government, SGS and
\nstate-owned surveyor PT Sucofindo, to gradually take over
\ninspection jobs from SGS.<\/p>\n
"Almost as soon as the government returns part of customs'
\nauthority, the old problems...occur again," Michael Lysewyez, one
\nof SGS's Jakarta directors said in a seminar on Monday.<\/p>\n
Seizure<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an informed source from SI, who requested
\nanonymity, told the Post yesterday that customs officials often
\nimproperly seize items checked at the point of loading.<\/p>\n
"For example, officials often claim that they got an
\ninvestigative tip which means goods already checked by SI must be
\nre-inspected," the source said.<\/p>\n
According to Presidential Instruction No. 3\/1991, the
\nDirectorate General of Customs and Excise can re-inspect imported
\ngoods already scrutinized by SI for very specific reasons,
\nincluding damage to the packaging of the imported goods or
\nspecial requests from importers.<\/p>\n
The presidential instruction, also allows officials to re-
\ncheck imported goods on the basis of "information from the
\ndirectorate general's investigative division".<\/p>\n
GINSI chairman Amirudin also said yesterday that officials
\nfrom the customs and excise directorate general often "make up
\nreasons" to seize imported goods.<\/p>\n
Credit<\/p>\n
The chairman, however, credited leaders of the directorate
\ngeneral as having "sincerely tried to improve things."<\/p>\n
"But the people at the inspection sites are often corrupt," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Director General of Customs and Excise Suhardjo told the Post
\nby phone yesterday that all accusations of wrongdoing by his
\nstaff must be reported to him "as detailed and specifically as
\npossible."<\/p>\n
"If they are just vague complaints aired in the press, I'll
\nsay that those charges are just frame-ups inflicted on my
\noffice," he said.<\/p>\n
Suhardjo said that he will react firmly to all "legitimate
\nreports." He also stated that there are 20 allegedly corrupt
\ncustoms officials currently under investigation.<\/p>\n
"The public should know that GINSI, SGS, and SI have potential
\ninterest in implicating us," he said. "They are out to make
\nprofits."<\/p>\n
"If they are sincere they should talk to me directly," he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Suhardjo also said that he found GINSI's and SI's criticisms
\n"sanctimonious." (04)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/custom-office-attacked-for-port-corruption-1447893297",
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