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)