House calls for action on port

House calls for action on port

JAKARTA (JP): House members voiced concern yesterday over the
havoc at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port, saying that privately-
managed terminal operators should be dissolved, if necessary.

Muhammad Buang, a member of the House's Commission V, which
oversees transportation, public works and telecommunications
affairs, said that terminal operators were dispensable if they
could not contribute to improving the port's efficiency.

"I agree that it is important to involve private enterprises
in this business, but they must be able to improve handling
processes," he said.

A. Harbani, president of the state-owned PT Pelabuhan II which
manages port activities at Tanjung Priok, explained in a hearing
with the House members that the terminal operators were set up
last year to "give a chance to the private sector to be involved
professionally in port activities".

"Even without them, Pelabuhan II actually would have been able
to manage the port on its own," Harbani said.

"Pelabuhan II has suffered losses due to (the terminal
operators') inefficiency, but we have a mission to promote this
business to the private sector," he added.

Tanjung Priok port has lately been under fire for what its
users see as red tape and poor facilities which have been causing
serious delays in the cargo handling and lengthened the docking
time of ships.

Harbani explained that 11 terminal operators were currently
operating in the port. They were selected last year -- on the
basis of professionalism -- from a number of ship-handling
companies.

The terminal operators include PT Hamparan Jala Segara, PT
Prima Nur Panurjwan, PT Sarana Tirta Semesta, PT Sarana Bandar
Nasional, PT Urun Karya Segara, PT Dwipa Hasta Utamaduta, PT
Dharma Lautan Nusantara, PT Andalan Tama, PT Gemar Laut Biru, PT
Tangguh Samudera Jaya and PT Karya Abdi Luhur.

The terminal operators, he said, originally had the full
authority over ship-handling processes, but a recent ministerial
instruction, which came into effect on June 1, stipulated that
the responsibility now rests with Pelabuhan II.

"We arw now implementing a one-roof policy, meaning that all
documentation and administrative procedures of ship-handling will
be conducted by Pelabuhan II," he said.

Pelabuhan II, Harbani said, will make sure that the terminal
operators do not conduct exclusive services for certain shipping
lines only, as they have done in the past.

"Our's will be a 'first come first served' policy, so terminal
operators will have no choice but to serve the ships which berth
in their respective areas," he said.

He added the preference among the terminal operators for
particular shipping companies and unprepared shipping documents
had been the main reasons behind the long delays in cargo
handling at the port.

He said that the average gross waiting time last year was 22.9
hours for conventional ocean liners and 15.1 hours for container
vessels. Of the 15.1 hours, he said, 4.1 hours were related to
activities overseen by Pelabuhan II.

Last year, the gross waiting time was 22.1 hours and 15.7
hours for conventional ocean liners and container vessels,
respectively. Of the 15.7 hours, 6.9 were caused by procedures
conducted by Pelabuhan II.

The simplified system, Harbani said, is part of Pelabuhan II's
efforts to meet the rising demands of larger, more modern
shipping fleets.

Several aspects of the program's facility-development
activities will be completed in September and the others early
next year, he said.

T. Tadano, local chairman of the Intra Asia Discussion
Agreement forum which consists of 44 shipping lines from the
Asia-Pacific region, told The Jakarta Post that a meeting of the
forum with port officials yesterday "gave foreign shipping
companies a more detailed idea of the plans".

"If the plans go well, it will be very helpful. In the
meantime, the forum prefers a 'wait and see' stance until
August," he said.

He added that if no significant improvements had been
accomplished by August the forum members would start to impose
congestion surcharges on importers, beginning in September.

Tadano said that ANERA -- a forum consisting of seven shipping
lines operating between North America and Asia, which has common
members with the Intra Asia forum -- had decided to impose
surcharges from July 15, but would meet again on July 4 to make a
final decision.

He said that ANERA will impose surcharges of US$200 on each
40-ft container and $100 on each 20-ft container bound to Tanjung
Priok.

Harbani said Pelabuhan II, which gained a clean bill of health
in its audited financial reports last year, reaped a profit of Rp
130.93 billion (US$62.9 million) in 1994, 17.4 percent higher
than the target of Rp 111.54 billion.

Harbani said that additional funding to upgrade the port's
facilities was expected to come from bank loans, co-financing
deals with the private sector and bond floatation. (pwn)