Timber piling up at Sunda Kelapa port

Timber piling up at Sunda Kelapa port

JAKARTA (JP): Chief of the Sunda Kelapa Port Authority Nasrul
Esten has blamed the mounting pile of timber at the port's yard
on the buyers who are often late in collecting their ordered
goods.

"All of the timber has legal owners but they haven't collected
it yet," Nasrun told reporters when he received members of the
City Council yesterday.

Nasrul was commenting on charges that the port was holding the
timber from other provinces for a certain period and charging the
owners various fees, causing a tremendous increase in the selling
price.

According to Nasrul, the owners prefer to pile their timber in
the port's yard because the renting fee is a lot cheaper than in
the port's warehouses.

He said that the port only charges the timber sellers Rp 70
per cubic meter in storage fees per day and Rp 35 per cubic meter
in port fees per day.

"All of the fees are based on a 1976 decree of the Ministry of
Transportation," he said.

Nasrul added that the port also imposed a berthing fee on the
ships which dock at the port but said he could not remember the
exact amount. He ensured the councilors that the fee is
reasonable.

Djoko Soewindhi of the ruling Golkar faction reminded Nasrul
of the importance of control timber prices, adding that the city
needs around two million cubic meters of timber a year.

"I must make sure that the port authority does not impose
unnecessary fees on the timber sellers because that will
ultimately increase the timber prices on the Jakarta market," he
said. (03)