Port management provides storage for rice imports

Port management provides storage for rice imports

JAKARTA (JP): The management of state-owned Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, has allocated two warehouses with a total capacity of 15,000 tons to the storage of foodstuffs imported by the National Logistics Agency (Bulog).

Bulog spokesman Suhardjono told reporters yesterday that the opening of Pelabuhan II's warehouses has helped speed up the processing of Bulog's goods, which had previously been held in cargo vessels offshore.

Until Wednesday, news reports stated that the number of Bulog's vessels at Tanjung Priok decreased from 19 on Sunday to only six, three of which have already unloaded their cargoes.

A total of 64 ships, including those carrying Bulog's goods, were waiting to be berthed at the port on Sunday.

Since earlier this year, Bulog has been receiving imports of foodstuffs, such as rice and sugar, for its buffer stock.

But problems arose when it was later discovered that Bulog's warehouses at Tanjung Priok were not prepared to receive the inflow of rice, which makes up most of the agency's imports.

According to reliable sources, a number of the agency's warehouses in Tanjung Priok are packed with goods owned by the Goro wholesale store, a subsidiary of the Humpuss Group, which is controlled by the president's youngest son. They were therefore unable to accommodate the rice imports.

Suhardjono said that Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto has asked port officials to provide storage facilities to Bulog at the lowest prices.

Bulog's imports come from Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam, among others.

He explained that small vessels measuring 5,000 to 7,000 tons could enter Indonesia's smaller ports, but that larger vessels -- measuring 10,000 tons and over -- could only enter the ports of Belawan (in North Sumatra), Tanjung Priok, Tanjung Perak (East Java), Tanjung Mas (Central Java), Panjang (Lampung), Meneng (East Java), Cilacap (Central Java) and Bitung (North Sulawesi).

Suhardjono said that some of Bulog's imports which were held up on vessels off Tanjung Priok had already gone rotten, such as those on board the MV Sun River III from Thailand.

Suhardjono said the ship is carrying 6,400 tons of rice, of which around 1,000 tons have deteriorated due to leaks.

He said compensation for the losses was the responsibility of the shipping company, not of the supplier or Bulog.

Bulog, he said, has already filed a claim against the shipping company. Suhardjono did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, an insect hazardous to people's health, the khapra beetle, was found on board the MV Primorsk, which was carrying imported rice. The ship, Suhardjono said, has now been fumigated and declared free of the insect. (pwn)