Overseas importers threaten to give up on Indonesian goods

JAKARTA (JP): Overseas importers are threatening to seek alternative sources of manufactured goods if congested conditions at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port do not improve, an official says.

Director General of Foreign Trade Djoko Moeljono was quoted yesterday by Antara as saying that the threat had been made because several products imported from Indonesia, such as garments and shoes, required fast shipment because of changing trends in fashion.

The threat from overseas importers comes only weeks after foreign shipping lines threatened to impose congestion surcharges of US$100 for each 20-foot container and $200 for each 40-foot container, which entered the port.

The shipping lines, however, subsequently withdrew the plan to impose additional fees, saying that they would agree to "wait and see" until Aug. 24, in view of the efficiency program being conducted by PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, the state-owned firm which manages the port.

Djoko said that the ports of Tanjung Mas in Semarang, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Cigading in Cilegon and in Cirebon, should also be upgraded so that they could effectively support the cargo handling activities of Tanjung Priok.

Tanjung Priok has also been under fire for its heavy red tape, poor management and lack of coordination in cargo-handling procedures.

The congested conditions at the port have resulted in prolonged waiting times for ships, causing them financial losses.

Pelabuhan Indonesia II has responded by launching a program which will involve the construction of infrastructure facilities and a simplification of documentation procedures.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, after meeting with Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday, said that there had been "very significant" improvements at Tanjung Priok as a result of the program.

The waiting time for ships, he said, had declined from 24 hours, recorded before June 1 -- when the port launched a new system for port procedures -- to nine hours.

The productivity of stevedoring activities at the container port had, Haryanto said, also increased; from 2,400 boxes per day before June 1 to 3,000 boxes per day at present.

"Hopefully, we can reach the target of 3,500 boxes per day," he said.

The waiting time for ships berthing at the conventional port, he said, had also fallen by 10 percent and stevedoring activities had increased from 40,000 tons to 48,000 tons per day. (pwn)