Cargo agents fear spread of protests

Cargo agents fear spread of protests

JAKARTA (JP): Local air and sea cargo agents expressed concern
on Friday over a possible escalation in Australia's boycott of
Indonesian cargo.

The deputy chairman of the Indonesian Air Cargo Agents Club
(ICAC), Mufti Syafei, said a prolonged boycott would constrict
the air and sea freight forwarding businesses.

He appealed for the government to listen to international
pressure to restore peace in troubled East Timor to prevent the
boycott from worsening.

"It's up to General Wiranto (minister of defense and
security/military commander), if he could guarantee stability in
the territory... Australia will certainly review its actions,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the flow of cargo from major Indonesian ports to
Australia was currently not affected, but he appealed for an
effort to calm the protests because of the potential losses.

Separately, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Forwarders
Association (Gafeksi), Santoso Soeparman, said that business was
running as usual.

"But if local businesspeople cut their exports due to fears of
the goods being blocked, it will definitely hurt our activities,"
he told the Post.

Australian trade unions stepped up their protests against
Indonesia on Friday due to its failure to stop the violence in
the territory.

Workers have refused to handle shipments bound to or from
Indonesia in a show of sympathy with the East Timorese, who voted
overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in an Aug. 30
ballot. An orgy of violence followed the announcement of the
results on Sept. 4, with thousands of people forced to flee amid
attacks by pro-Indonesia militias.

Mufti and Santoso believed the protests were also triggered by
a threatened boycott made by the Indonesian Importers Association
(GINSI) last week.

"We are quite surprised that the Australian (labor unions)
responded so quickly to the earlier talk of a boycott by our
importers," Mufti said.

GINSI said last week it would boycott Australian goods if the
Australian government continued meddling in Indonesian political
affairs, particularly in the handling of East Timor.

Separately, Director General of Foreign Trade Djoko Moeljono
said on Friday that the government had yet to take a stance on
the Australian Council of Trade Unions' call for a blanket
boycott of Indonesian goods.

He said the ministry would discuss the matter with all
concerned parties, including GINSI and the Indonesian Association
of Exporters (GPEI), before making any move.

Indonesia's exports of non-oil commodities to Australia was
US$865.95 million in 1998, up 20.05 percent from 1997. Exports in
the first four months this year, however, dropped 7.57 percent to
$232.08 million from $251.07 million in the same period last
year.

Indonesia's imports of non-oil products from Australia fell
24.49 percent to $1.65 billion last year compared to the 1997
total.

Imports in the first four months of 1999 were $411.73 million,
down 27.49 percent from the same period last year. (cst)