Govt strives to fight illegal levies at port

Govt strives to fight illegal levies at port

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto
said yesterday that the government will fight illegal levies at
Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port.

Dhanutirto told newsmen following a meeting with President
Soeharto that a recent investigation by his ministry confirmed
businessmen's complaints about rampant illegal charges at the
country's largest port.

"My officials who disguised themselves as port service users
found out that the handling cost of a container at the port
amounts to Rp 26,000 per day," he said.

Since the port handles about 10,000 containers a day, the
illegal payments to port officials may reach Rp 260 million
(US$121,000) per day.

Dhanutirto added that document processing at Tanjung Priok
will be computerized to minimize personal contacts between
officials and port service users.

The investigators, he added, discovered seven areas where
officials and company employees had to make personal contacts in
the processing of container freight documents.

"We will minimize these personal contact points," he stated.

He said computer processing systems also would be introduced
at other major sea ports to expedite document processing.

Dhanutirto said President Soeharto fully supports his plan to
as unnecessary costs affect the country's export competitiveness.

Exporters and importers have complained in the past that the
illegal charges not only raise shipping costs but also slow the
movement of goods.

Dhanutirto added that since receipts are not written for
payoffs, a firms employee in charge of handling container freight
at the port could easily pad his "expense account."

"I suspect therefore that businessmen might have paid much
more than what was actually handed over by their employees to
port officials," Dhanutirto said. (icn/vin)