Government to revamp seaport management
Government to revamp seaport management
JAKARTA (JP): In a bid to improve the efficiency of the
Tanjung Priok seaport in North Jakarta, the government will
revamp the port's management system, reform policies and upgrade
its hardware facilities, Minister of Transportation Haryanto
Dhanudirto said.
"We will soon launch a three-month trial period to test the
planned reforms," Dhanudirto told reporters after meeting with
President Soeharto at Bina Graha yesterday.
The Minister stated that the program will be aimed at
increasing the efficiency of the port's services from between 16
and 18 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers per hour to
between 20 and 22 TEUs.
"We have to do this because we have projected that Tanjung
Priok this year will accommodate the flow of 23.6 million tons of
goods, while its container terminals will accommodate around 1.37
million TEUs," he said.
Available data shows that the installed capacity of Tanjung
Priok's two existing container terminals is around 1.2 million
TEUs only.
The data also shows that, in terms of value, the two container
terminals will accommodate around 65 percent of Indonesia's total
exports and imports this year.
Analysts have estimated that Indonesia's total exports this
year will reach US$43.5 billion and its imports $36.5 billion.
Responsibilities
Dhanudirto explained yesterday that he also planned to
separate the responsibilities of the port's administrator and the
state-owned PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II.
"Under the reform program, the port administrator will
supervise and coordinate port management matters only, while all
port services will be strictly managed by Pelindo," he said.
The minister also said that he planned to increase the port's
productivity by increasing its "effective loading hours".
"Although Tanjung Priok is open 24 hours, its effective
loading hours are only 16 hours...We have to raise this figure to
20 hours," he said.
He added that he had arranged with the Directorate General of
Customs and Excise to speed up the inspection process by
installing a computerized information system on all shipping and
loading matters.
Dhanudirto also cited yesterday that several berths in Tanjung
Priok, including those in the two container terminals, will
undergo major renovations which will be completed by the end of
this year.
The minister said that the renovations will be funded by
Pelindo II.
Pelindo II is currently cooperating with the Humpuss Group in
constructing a new container terminal worth around $495 million
at the port.
Dhanudirto confirmed yesterday that the government expects the
project, currently plagued by legal problems regarding land
appropriation, to be completed by the end of this year.(hdj)