Local shipowners oppose Hutchison's takeover plans

Local shipowners oppose Hutchison's takeover plans

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Shipowners Association (INSA) has
strongly opposed plans by Hongkong's Hutchison Port Holdings to
purchase a 48 percent interest in PT Humpuss Terminal Petikemas
(HTP), an operator of a container terminal at Jakarta's Port,
Tanjung Priok.

INSA secretary general Barens Th Saragih said on Friday that
the foreign port operator would monopolize services at Tanjung
Priok, Indonesia's largest and busiest seaport, if its investment
plan was realized.

"If the sale is realized, the Hutchison group will become a
monopoly," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Barens pointed out that Grosbeaks Pte. Ltd., a unit of
Hutchison Whampoa, already controlled 51 percent of PT Jakarta
International Container Terminal (JICT), which operates two
container terminals at Tanjung Priok.

JICT is a unit of the state-owned PT Pelindo II, which was
privatized by the government last year.

Barens also said that the entry of the Hongkong port operator
into the Jakarta seaport would not ensure a better service.

He said that there were many complaints of poor service at
JICT after Hutchison took over as operator.

Hutchison Port Holdings is a publicly listed company in
Hongkong which operates 17 container terminals around the world.

The Hutchison investment plan became controversial, after the
press alleged that Inghie Kwik, the son of the Coordinating
Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie, was
acting as a broker in the sale of HTP to Hutchison.

This is controversial not only because Inghie is the son of
Indonesia's senior economics minister, but also because HTP is
among the thousands of debtor companies under the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

HTP is a unit of the publicly listed PT Humpuss Intermoda
Transportasi, which is controlled by Hutomo Mandala Putra, the
youngest son of former president Soeharto.

State Minister of Investment and State Enterprises Development
Laksamana Sukardi said that only IBRA has the right to sell HTP.

Laksamana is Kwik Kian Gie's colleague in the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle, the country's largest political
party.

But Inghie denied allegations that his company called Asset
Management Group of Indonesia was acting as broker. He said that
the firm was merely acting as consultant to Hutchison.

He also said that HTP was not under the control of IBRA, but
was indebted to a bank taken over by IBRA. He said that IBRA was
only acting as a creditor not the owner of HTP.

The agency has taken over some Rp 230 trillion (US$31 billion)
worth of non-performing bank loans since 1998 in a bid to
restructure the ailing banking industry.

"So the rights to sell HTP remains in the hands of the
majority owner Humpuss Transportasi Intermoda and other minority
shareholders," Inghie said. (rei)