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)