Stevedoring fees 'not illegal': Official<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The head of North Jakarta's Tanjung Priok Port
\nAdministration, Aprildo Abidin, said yesterday that the Rp 225
\n(nine U.S. cents) per ton charged in stevedoring fees at the
\nport's cargo terminal was not an illegal levy.<\/p>\n
He said the fees were not imposed by his office but by a
\ncollective agreement between his office and associations that
\nused the port's services, such as the Indonesian Importers'
\nAssociation, the Association of Indonesian Stevedores and the
\nIndonesian National Shipowners' Association.<\/p>\n
\"The funds are managed collectively by a fund-managing body
\nchaired by the port administration,\" Aprildo told Antara after a
\nmeeting of the fund-managing body's board of executives.<\/p>\n
Aprildo said the head of the port's All-Indonesian Workers
\nUnion, Ono Suryono -- who had earlier questioned the management
\nof the funds -- had been expelled from the body's executive
\nboard. The decision was made during yesterday's meeting.<\/p>\n
Antara said Ono had accused the fund-managing body of
\nembezzling the funds which should have been paid to stevedores.<\/p>\n
Aprildo said the collection of the fees began in January. From
\nthe Rp 225 per ton collected from users of stevedoring services,
\nRp 50 was to be used for stevedores' housing facilities, Rp 50
\nfor the workers' welfare, Rp 20 for a social foundation and Rp
\n105 for the fund-managing body.<\/p>\n
He said, by example, that from a cargo of 11 million tons,
\nalmost Rp 1.28 billion could be collected. These funds would be
\nmanaged by the fund-managing body, whose members come from
\nvarious associations.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Importers' Association Amiruddin
\nSaud said that not all companies using stevedoring services were
\npaying the fees. It was therefore more effective if the fees were
\ncollected by the port administration.<\/p>\n
Association leaders during yesterday's meeting insisted that
\nthe funds belonged to them and that the fund-managing body had
\nthe sole right to allocate the money, even if the fees were
\ncollected from many member-companies of the associations on
\nbehalf of stevedores.<\/p>\n
They pledged to use the funds efficiently, giving the port
\nadministration a Rp 250,000 monthly honorarium for the job. In
\naddition to that, each executive board-member would be given Rp
\n100,000 for each board meeting attended.<\/p>\n
Aprildo said 4,760 stevedores were currently employed at the
\nport, but 600 were soon to retire because of health reasons. He
\nsaid his office would give Rp 350,000 to each retiree.<\/p>\n
Amiruddin said yesterday his association and Bank Bukopin
\nwould soon open electronic data interchange (EDI) shops at
\nvarious points in the country to assist small-scale importers.<\/p>\n
He said many small importers, particularly those which
\nconducted export-import activities only once or twice a month,
\nwere unable to buy the computer equipment needed to communicate
\nwith the Customs and Excise office through the EDI.<\/p>\n
He said that once the EDI shops began operating, each was
\nexpected to be able to complete 25 import notification forms a
\nday. Each importer would be charged Rp 2,500 for each import
\nnotification. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stevedoring-fees-not-illegal-official-1447893297",
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