PT Pelabuhan II, PSA cooperate

PT Pelabuhan II, PSA cooperate

JAKARTA (JP): PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, the company with
manages Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port and several other seaports,
signed a technical cooperation agreement yesterday with the Port
of Singapore Authority (PSA) to improve port services and daily
operations.

The agreement was signed by Pelabuhan II president A. Harbani
and PSA Deputy chief executive officer Goon Lok Loon. The signing
was attended by the Ministry of Transportation's director general
of sea transportation, Soentoro.

According to a statement made available to The Jakarta Post
yesterday, the cooperation agreement is a follow-up of a
ministerial meeting of the transportation ministers of the two
countries last July which discussed cooperation in the
transportation sector, particularly in sea transportation.

The cooperation is expected to increase productivity at
Tanjung Priok.

During the first phase of the cooperation, PSA is expected to
share its expertise with Pelabuhan II regarding port services and
the solving of operational problems, particularly those which are
currently faced by Tanjung Priok.

The statement said that PSA was chosen as a partner for
cooperation because it has extensive experience in the field and
has succeeded in boosting the productivity of its port services.

The management of Tanjung Priok port came under fire earlier
this year after its users complained of inefficiencies at the
port which, they said, were causing prolonged waiting times of
ships docking there.

Foreign shipping lines threatened to impose a "Jakarta Port
Congestion Surcharge" to compensate for losses caused by the
inefficiency, but later decided to refrain from doing so,
adopting a "wait and see" approach, pending further progress
under the "crash" reform program being carried out at the port by
Pelabuhan II. (pwn)