Port mismanagement prompts govt to mull foreign ownership
Port mismanagement prompts govt to mull foreign ownership
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The many extra expenses passed on to exporters and importers at
Indonesia's ports are mainly attributable to time-consuming
services, illegal fees and the relatively high Terminal Handling
Charge (THC), a minister said on Tuesday.
Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu stated during an impromptu
visit on Tuesday to Tanjung Priok port and the Jakarta
International Container Terminal (JICT), that the government was
working to significantly slash those extra costs.
"The high cost of export and import processing has
substantially reduced our competitiveness on the international
market," said Mari.
The sluggish container processing, which is a key contributor
to the high cost of port handling here, consequently requires
exporters and importers to pay more for every container held up
by port officials, she said.
According to Mari, the problem was basically a result of
insufficient infrastructure, poor systems, a lack of professional
management and outdated technology at the ports.
Moreover, as witnessed during the visit, customs officials at
Tanjung Priok port had to do most of their routine inventory
checks manually.
To help resolve the problems, "We are now assessing all ports
in the country, to find out which ports are implementing best
practices, which can then be adopted at other ports," Mari said,
adding that the government would not rule out inviting foreign
investors to help improve local ports.
She, however, did not give any recommendations about curbing
illegal fees, reducing the expensive THC or a host of other
issues that inflate the costs.
"We are still studying the steps that needed to be taken," she
said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Exporter Association (GPEI) secretary-
general Toto Dirgantoro said Tanjung Priok could only process an
average of 18 containers an hour.
Meanwhile, the more sophisticated JICT was able to process 26
containers per hour on average, Toto said.
JICT is a joint venture firm, of which international port
operator the Hutchinson Ports Holdings (HPH) group controls 51
percent of the shares. The remaining 49 percent is owned by state
owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II.
JICT president director WS Wirjawan said that his firm was
investing a further US$10 million this year to expand the
capacity of its handling field to store containers, from the
current 2.4 million TEUs (twenty-feet equivalent units) to 3
million TEUs.
HPH is aiming to have at least seven giant container carriers
or "mother vessels" at the JICT by the end of the year.
Wirjawan said that having such mother vessels at the JICT
showed that the port was capable of handling very large carriers,
meaning that Jakarta would be open for direct-line services to
and from Europe, North America or Australia without having to
transfer to larger ships in Singapore.
He said that at least 60 percent of Indonesia's exports at the
moment had to stop over in Singapore, thus putting additional
costs on the country's goods in the international market.