Ships to pay toll in Barito River

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan (JP): Lawmakers in the provincial legislative council of South Kalimantan are currently discussing a plan to impose a toll on some vessels sailing the Barito River in the south of Kalimantan Island.

Provincial Transportation Office head H. Ardiansyah confirmed on Monday that the fee would only be imposed on large cargo ships.

"Meanwhile, the carrier ships with a capacity of (less than) one thousand tons and the commuter (passenger) ships will be exempt from the ruling," Ardiansyah told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

For container ships and coal transport ships, the local administration plans to charge 10 U.S. cents per ton and 25 U.S. cents per ton respectively.

Ardiansyah explained that the local administration had to charge the fee in U.S. dollars because income would be used to finance the river dredging project.

The project is being carried out by the China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) from the People's Republic of China.

All cargo ships bound for and departing the Trisakti seaport have to use the Barito River.

Appointed by the South Kalimantan administration, CHEC has come under increasing criticism due to its poor performance.

Ardiansyah said the toll income would be allocated to three areas: 60% would go to CHEC; 15% to the local administration; and 25% to operational costs.

It is hoped that under such a distribution scheme, the Chinese investor will break even within the next four years. CHEC has spent $200 million on the project.

Ardiansyah said that criticism targeted at CHEC was unfounded. "The investor has completed dredging a 13.5 kilometer segment of the Barito River," he said.

Ardiansyah said that criticism arose after many vessels ran aground in the river. "Those vessels became stranded because they cruised over the dredged area. Clear signs have been installed, directing vessels to the appropriate route."

He said that CHEC was scheduled to hand the project over to the local administration in the middle of this month.

"This means that the bylaw regarding the river toll should be completed soon." (32/08)