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)