PT Pos sustains losses in Maluku, Papua

PT Pos sustains losses in Maluku, Papua

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Papua, Jayapura

The Maluku and Papua regional office of state-owned delivery company PT Pos Indonesia suffered some Rp 7 billion in financial losses last year, as the operational expenditure of the company exceeded its revenue in the same period, a top official at the office said on Tuesday.

"In terms of business, the company always likely to sustain losses if it operates in Papua and Maluku. However, we continue to operate there because we carry out a social mission, especially delivery services to citizens in remote areas," said chief of the regional office Frans Amarbay.

The office earned Rp 11 billion in revenue last year, but spent Rp 18 billion on operational costs in the same period.

Frans said that the company sustained losses because people in Papua and Maluku did not send many letters or packages. This was aggravated by huge transportation costs in those areas.

"We have, for example, to deliver letters to remote areas by airplane. It is costly, but we have to do it anyway, because remote areas can only be reached by airplane," he said. Much of Papua is mountainous, while Maluku is an archipelago.

Another reason was that the well-being of people in those provinces had still not fully recovered after the areas, especially Maluku, were hit by sectarian clashes.

Frans said that most of the office's revenue came from the sale of post materials such as stamps. The regional office has some 500 employees, 10 audit offices and 98 branch offices.