DPR concerned over fee in port services
DPR concerned over fee in port services
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators expressed concern yesterday that
recent hike in the fees of five port services will cause price
increases in other sectors. The rises range from 14 to 50
percent.
"We are wondering why the government did not notify us of the
plan to raise the fees," legislator Iedil Suryadi of Commission V
of the House of Representatives (DPR) told The Jakarta Post.
He said that Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto
gave no indication of the plan in any previous hearings with
Commission V, which deals with transportation, housing, public
works, telecommunications and tourism.
"This is baseless. There should have been some elements
considered and elaborated on," he said, adding that the impact of
the port service fee hikes will be widely felt by the public.
The Ministry of Transportation issued five new regulations on
Oct. 31 focusing on the hikes of service fees at the country's
ports. The regulations stipulate the fees for the leasing of
mechanical and other related tools, passenger entry, domestic
shipping, foreign shipping and containers at the ports of Belawan
(North Sumatra), Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) and Tanjung Perak (East
Java).
The regulations, signed on Oct. 19, are effective as of Nov.
1.
Executives of the Indonesian National Shipowners Association,
the Association of Freight-forwarders & Expeditions and the
Indonesian Importers' Association have expressed their
disappointment due to the unexpected fee hikes.
Fees
Under the new regulations, the berthing fee is raised to Rp 44
(2.01 U.S. cents) per gross registered ton (GRT) from Rp 35, tug
boat fee to Rp 40 per GRT from Rp 35, postponement fee to Rp
269,000 per hour from Rp 233,000 and passenger fee for class B to
Rp 1,500 from Rp 1,000.
According to Iedil, Commission V will ask the minister to
explain the details of the new regulations and the reasons for
the fee hikes.
Meanwhile, the secretary of the PPP (United Development
Partly) faction at DPR, M. Dja'far Sidiq, said that the
government should notify the House of any plan to raise fees for
services provided by government institutions.
"Legislators should be involved in the planning to raise
service fees and the government should let the public anticipate
any fee increases," Dja'far said.
The state company managing commercial ports in West Java and
Jakarta, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II, said last week that
it had asked the government to increase its service fees
following the rise in electricity rates this month. Pelindo II is
scheduled to release a statement today.
Company executives and officials at the Ministry of
Transportation refused to give any comment.(icn)