Councilors back plan for port management
JAKARTA (JP): Councilors have expressed strong support over Governor Surjadi Soedirdja's request to take over the management of Tanjung Priok seaport from the Ministry of Transportation.
Speaking with The Jakarta Post over the weekend, councilors from three different factions said Surjadi's plea for the handover of the country's busiest port was not groundless but based on existing laws.
"Golkar thoroughly supports the governor's request to take over Tanjung Priok's management," said Fatomy Asaari, chairman of the ruling party faction.
According to Fatomy, the current system managed by PT Pelindo (Pelabuhan Indonesia), the state port company under the supervision of the Ministry of Transportation, is against the law.
Law No.5/1974 stipulates that the central government is only allowed to manage foreign, defense, justice and financial affairs, he said.
"Port management is not among the items to be handled by the central government, instead, it should be managed by the local administration," said Fatomy.
The request for the port's handover was revealed by Governor Surjadi in a meeting on Tuesday with members of House Commission II for home affairs.
During the meeting, Surjadi told the legislators that it was about time for the central government to hand over the management of the Tanjung Priok port to the Jakarta administration.
Under the current system, said Councilor Fatomy, the city administration only got the unfavorable sides, such as routinely repairing damage roads leading to and from the seaport.
"We spend a large amount from the city budget to repair the roads, for which the city gets nothing in return," said Fatomy.
He said the city was ready to manage the port, which is billed as one of the busiest ports in the region.
"It's only the management that needs to be shifted, not the human resources," Fatomy said.
Sharing Fatomy's idea, chairman of the Armed Forces faction, Sumekar K.W., said that Surjadi's plea was a guarantee that the governor had prepared everything for the handover, including the human resources.
"In other places around the world, ports are always managed by the local administrations," said Sumekar.
He learned that there's no single existing laws that gave legality for the central government to manage the seaport.
"So, hand it over to the municipality, unless the central government has valid reasons for it," said Sumekar.
Seconding his fellow councilors' opinion, Achmad Suaidy of the United Development Party faction urged the public not to underestimate the ability of the Jakarta administration for its ambitious plan to take over the port's management.
"The reclamation project of North Jakarta Bay is strong evidence of the administration's success, not to mention other huge projects planned, such as subway and three-tier transit system," he said.
Suaidy suggested that the handover could be implemented in stages.
The three councilors believed that the handover would contribute a large portion to the city's income revenue.
"But I doubt the central government will be willing to hand over the seaport management because it provides a lot of money," said Fatomy.
A conflict of interest between the city administration and the government is considered one of the matters to blame, which has hampered some of the city's projects, including the US$2.3 billion subway project.
The governor even admitted once his difficult position on the matter.
Previously, the Jakarta administration had failed to meet their request to take over the management of the Perum PPD bus company, which has most of its fleet on Jakarta's streets everyday.
According to a law issued in 1992 on the transfer of services to local administration, the city municipality should be the one in charge of public transportation, including bus companies.
Perum PPD, also run by the Ministry of Transportation, is reportedly in the middle of a corruption case worth Rp 7.9 billion. (ste)