Breakthrough needed in port development: INSA

Breakthrough needed in port development: INSA

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

Angered by what it sees as inefficiency at international ports
throughout the country, the Indonesian National Shipowners
Association (INSA) has called for massive improvements in the
management of ports.

"Inefficiency at ports has caused direct annual losses of more
than US$20 million to the shipping industry," INSA chairman
Oentoro Surya said on Monday.

Oentoro said inefficiency at Tanjung Priok Port in North
Jakarta caused an average two-day wait for ships to dock at the
port. This results in higher waiting fees for the shipping
industry.

According to the port's website, the current hourly waiting
fee ranges between Rp 120,000 (US$12.80) and Rp 1 million for
domestic ships and between $145 and $1,700 for foreign ships.

Oentoro said because Tanjung Priok Port, the country's largest
international port, was so poorly managed, there was a need to
develop new ports to increase the country's international
competitiveness.

"Rehabilitating the old port would be difficult because there
is a lack of access and the surrounding area is occupied by
residents," he said.

Tanjung Priok Port -- occupying 604 hectares of land and 424
hectares of breakwater area -- has three container terminals and
is operating at only half its capacity.

"The port also serves a range of activities, from passengers
to goods," Oentoro said.

According to a 2003 study by the Institute for Management at
the University of Indonesia's School of Economics (LM-FEUI), the
annual capacity of Tanjung Priok Port is 1.1 million TEU (20 foot
equivalent unit) while the forecast demand in 2012 is about four
million TEU.

In line with suggestions from the INSA, the Jakarta
administration and the LM-FEUI will host an international
workshop on March 21 and March 22 to find suitable models for the
development of new ports.

There have been media reports that the city administration
plans to build the Jakarta New Port to support export and import
activities.

The focus of the plan -- based on a study by the Japanese
International Cooperation Agency -- is to develop a special car
terminal needed by many Japanese car manufacturers exporting
their products to the ASEAN region, LM-FEUI director of research
and consulting Toto Pranoto said.

"The results of the workshop will provide suggestions for the
city administration to decide how best to develop the new port,"
he said, adding that the whole project would cost about Rp 8.1
trillion.

The project, which would be located on reclaimed land in East
Ancol, North Jakarta, has been opposed by state port operator
Pelindo II, which says it plans to construct an integrated port
in the same area.

The Constitutional Court is currently reviewing the legal
basis used by each side in the dispute to support its claim to
the land and the right to build a port.

Besides this legal dispute, the project has also faced strong
opposition from environmentalists who have warned that it would
worsen flooding in coastal areas, as well as have an adverse
impact on the ecosystem of the north coast of Jakarta and Jakarta
Bay. (003)