Container terminal 'no longer in crisis'

JAKARTA (JP): The pile up of containers at Tanjung Priok port due to the slow processing of customs documents eased after many were transferred to private container terminals, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said.

The minister said the flow of containers through the port was improving. "The congestion is no longer serious," he said Thursday after inspecting the container flow at the port, about 10 kilometers north of here.

He said a 15 percent increase in the flow of goods through the port had contributed to the pile up.

The port authority said the port's container terminal unit one occupancy rate reached 85 percent on April 20 and increased to 97 percent on April 24 before declining to 84.8 percent on April 26 and 74.89 percent on April 30.

In container terminal unit two, the number of waiting containers also reached serious proportions on April 20, with an occupancy rate of 89 percent. It dropped to 82.68 percent the following day and 55.45 percent on April 30.

"During the crisis containers were stacked five high. It only dropped to three or four levels after some were transferred to private terminal units outside the port," said Harmani, the commercial director of state-owned Pelabuhan Indonesia II, reported Antara.

He said that although containers had not piled up again in six days, the port authorities and customs office had decided to transfer them to private container terminal units to avoid congestion.

Regulation states that imported containers are allowed to stay up to six days in the port, with a one-day charge. But from the seventh day owners have to pay a daily parking fee.

Harmani said the private terminals covered the cost of transporting the containers from the port. But their daily parking fee is higher.

The private terminals will charge container owners the transport cost if they fail to remove their containers within the six-day period.

Minister Haryanto urged the port authorities to strengthen cooperation with all parties concerned with port management to ensure a smooth implementation of the new customs procedures.

The new 1995 customs law introduces self-assessed import duties and taxes, selective on-arrival inspections and post- release audits at Tanjung Priok port and Soekarno-Hatta airport. (bnt)