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)