'Conditions better at T. Priok'

JAKARTA (JP): After its first six weeks, a new service system at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port has considerably eased the flow of cargo at the port, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said yesterday.

Haryanto said the new system, enforced under a ministerial instruction, had cut ships' waiting time at the port, improved stevedoring productivity and reduced yard occupancy ratio.

Tanjung Priok has been criticized for its mountains of red tape and poor facilities, both of which have been causing serious cargo handling delays and lengthening waiting times in the port.

Haryanto said the average waiting time of ships had been reduced from 24 hours before July 1 to 18 hours during the period of June 1 through June 15, to 14 hours during the period of June 16 through June 30 and to only nine hours for the July 1-July 12 period.

"A number of liners even have enjoyed zero waiting time," the minister told journalists after reporting to President Soeharto.

He said container handling activities had improved significantly, from 15 container boxes per crane/hour before June 1 to 18 boxes per crane/hour, or from 2,400 boxes a day before June 1 to 2.700 boxes a day in June and 3,000 boxes a day early this month.

The yard occupancy ratio had dropped from 72 percent before June 1 to 65 percent in June and 58 percent early this month, Haryanto said. "My target is 50 percent."

"During the last three weeks, I visited the port almost every day to monitor the implementation of my crash program... And sometimes I had to stay at the port until 9 p.m.," Haryanto said, adding that the new service system will be in use until September.

The new system basically gives the state-owned PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, which manages the port's activities, full authority over the ship-handling processes that formerly rested with terminal operators.

Port users had previously criticized terminal operators of conducting exclusive services for certain shipping lines only.

Haryanto said such improvements at the port had prompted the ANERA (Asia North America Rate Agreement) group and OSRA (Overseas Ship Owner Association) to postpone the imposition of congestion surcharges on Indonesia's importers until Sept. 1 of this year.

"It's finally been agreed upon to postpone the implementation of the Jakarta port congestion surcharges to Sept. 1 and to have a general review on Aug. 24," ANERA and OSRA's letters were quoted by Haryanto as saying.

ANERA -- a forum consisting of seven shipping lines operating between North America and Asia with common members in the Intra Asia forum -- had earlier threatened to impose surcharges of US$200 per 40-foot container and $100 per 20-foot container bound for Tanjung Priok beginning July 15.

Further improvement

Haryanto vowed to further improve Tanjung Priok's ship- handling services so that the imposition of such surcharges would never happen. "I'll work hard to mend the problem before the Aug. 24 review."

The minister said his efforts had reduced the stacking time of containers at the ports from 10 days to six days. "I'll try to make it even shorter."

He noted that to make the stevedoring activities more efficient, each container crane has been supported by four trans- trainers and seven head trucks.

He added that the port authority had imported used cranes to support the existing ones.

To alleviate the rampant red tape at the port, the government has urged the port authority to install a computerized system to reduce direct contact between the officials and the port users.

He said the government, in cooperation with private investors, would start the development of Tanjung Priok's fourth container terminal next year.

The fourth terminal is expected to have an annual cargo- handling capacity of 1.5 million to two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) per annum.

"That will expand Tanjung Priok's handling capacity to four million or even five million TEUs.

Construction work at the fourth terminal is slated to start in early 1997.

According to OSRA, the volume of cargo handled at Tanjung Priok is expected to increase to 1.5 million TEUs this year, up from 1.3 million TEUs last year. (rid)