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.