Local businesses oppose fee hike at Priok port<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Six business associations urged the government
\nyesterday to cancel Minister of Transportation Haryanto
\nDhanutirto's new rule which raises container handling fees by 26
\npercent at the city's Tanjung Priok port.<\/p>\n
"Under the new ministerial decree No.62\/1996, effective from
\nNov. 15, loading and unloading fees at the conventional container
\nterminal were raised by 26.1 percent on average, not 2.7 percent
\nas originally promised by the government," the chairman of the
\nIndonesian Importers Association, Amiruddin Saud, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Other business associations opposing the new regulation
\ninclude the Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo), the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Freight Forwarding and Expedition, the
\nFederation of Indonesian Exporters, the Association of Indonesian
\nElectronics and Home Electric Appliance Industries and the
\nIndonesian Textile Association.<\/p>\n
Saud said that under the new regulation a 20-feet equivalent
\nunit container would be charged Rp 110,000 (US$46.9), up 20.2
\npercent on the previous handling fee, while haulage\/trucking fees
\nsurged 57.1 percent to Rp 16,500 ($7).<\/p>\n
Aprisindo vice chairman Anton J. Supit said yesterday the
\ngovernment should not have raised the service fees because PT
\nPelabuhan Indonesia II, the state-owned firm assigned to manage
\nTanjung Priok port and the country's other major ports, was very
\nprofitable.<\/p>\n
Both Supit and Saud agreed that Pelabuhan II would be highly
\nprofitable with the old fees based on ministerial decree
\nNo.75\/1991.<\/p>\n
"Even a very small rise hits businesses hard in textiles,
\nfootwear and plywood," Supit said.<\/p>\n
Impact<\/p>\n
Minister Haryanto said Monday the new ruling only affected the
\nTanjung Priok port in Jakarta, not the three other major ports:
\nSurabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Ujungpandang in
\nSouth Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
"The fee increase will not hit many businesses because the
\nconventional terminal usually handles just 10 percent of total
\ncontainer movements at Tanjung Priok."<\/p>\n
"Besides, the fees are negotiable and the biggest portion of
\nthe fees will go to private stevedoring companies and not to
\nPelabuhan II," he said.<\/p>\n
The associations criticized Minister Haryanto yesterday for
\nlicensing private terminal operators and the "one-stop port
\nmanagement system" (a new system to increase efficiency) at the
\nTanjung Priok's container terminal.<\/p>\n
"Terminal operators, mainly private firms which are licensed
\nby state-owned Pelabuhan II, emerged two years ago. Their
\noperations do not have any legal basis, neither does the one-roof
\n(one-stop) system which was introduced late last year," Saud
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said that, under Presidential Decree No.44\/1985, the Port
\nAdministrator was the only party allowed to handle sea
\ntransportation matters.<\/p>\n
"Since the decree has never been amended, I think minister
\nHaryanto has made a mistake by allowing private firms to become
\nterminal operators," Saud said.<\/p>\n
The one-stop service system breaches Presidential Instruction
\nNo.4\/1985 which was amended by Presidential Instruction No.3\/1991
\nregarding port operations, he said. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/local-businesses-oppose-fee-hike-at-priok-port-1447893297",
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