RI in need of affordable computers
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The newly formed National Association of Secondhand Computer Traders Association (Apkomlapan) is calling for the Ministry of Trade to lift its restriction on importing secondhand computers implemented in October.
"By importing secondhand computers and reconditioning them before selling them, we can sell our goods from between Rp 500,000 (US$54) to Rp 1.5 million," association secretary Ramdansyah said on Thursday.
The cheapest brand-new personal computers on the market range from between Rp 2.5 million to Rp 3.5 million.
The association said the use of computers in Indonesia was not yet significant according to data from the International Telecommunications Union. The data shows that Indonesia's computer ownership ratio is only about one person in every hundred -- or about 22 million people nationally -- the same ratio as Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
The daily trade of second-hand computers in Jakarta today amounted to between Rp 20 million and Rp 100 million worth of turnover a store, Ramdansyah said. More than 95 percent of the traded computers were imported, while the rest came from office auctions.
"Banning us from importing used computers would mean a loss of jobs in the industry." Each store, he said, employed at least two people.
There was also a high demand for affordable computers from educational institutions and community groups, he said.
The government has for some time been grappling with the issue of whether to allow the importation of used computers. Environmentalists worry that unrestricted imports would lead to environmentally toxic computer waste -- parts that cannot be recycled -- piling up in the nation's dumps.
Other officials, meanwhile, worry that the cheap imports are stopping the development of any local computer industry.
There have been efforts before to make computers more affordable by companies such as the former state computer-maker PC Republik Indonesia (PCRI) which developed a prototype of national computer at an affordable price. However, that company had gone out of business.
Another program to provide cheaper computers to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was begun by Intel, the producer of world's most-widely used micro-chip processor, and Adira Finance last year; the "Aku Punya PC" (I have PC) scheme.
That program offered new computers to SMEs from between Rp 3.1 million and Rp 4.8 million.
Indonesian Information and Telecommunications Society chairman Giri Suseno said importing used computers did not seem the best way to bridge the technology gap.
"The best and most sustainable way would be to domestically develop affordable computers ourselves."
This solution would also create more jobs, Giri said. (003)