Shipowners don't want rice on foreign ships

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian National Shipowners Association complained yesterday that most rice imports were carried by foreign-flagged vessels.

Chairman Firdaus Wajdi said the association had filed a complaint with Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto who had promised to pass it on to Beddu Amang, chairman of the National Logistics Agency (Bulog), which imported the rice.

Firdaus told Antara that shipments of the imported rice were controlled by affiliates of the country's biggest conglomerate the Salim Group.

"Thus far, the shipments of imported rice to Indonesia are in the control of the group, which prioritizes foreign-flagged vessels based in Hong Kong and Thailand," he said.

"It's not clear how the group gained such control," he added.

Firdaus regretted that such a nontransparent practice was happening amid the current monetary crisis and efforts to promote domestic economic potential.

This showed that there was a wide gap between policy makers and those who implemented policy, he said.

Bulog reportedly plans to import between 1.5 million and two million tons of rice this year to cover a shortfall caused by the adverse effects of the El Nio weather phenomenon.

There are 20 vessels currently unloading imported rice at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port and 21 more vessels will reportedly arrive between January and February.

During the meeting with the minister, the association also expressed its concern that Bank Indonesia, the central bank, was not doing much help to the country's shipping companies.

"In comparison, the Thai government helps export-oriented companies by lowering the interest rate to 14 percent for them, and to only 7 percent for shipping companies," he said. (jsk)