PORTS: The government has set up a task force that will specifically work to improve the performance of the country’s ports, particularly the Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta, by reducing their dwelling times.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli said his ministry has appointed Ronnie Rusli, a senior lecturer at the University of Indonesia, as the coordinator of the Dwelling Time Taskforce. Ronnie will work with the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister, the National Police and the Indonesian Military.
“The port authority has limited power, yet we cannot hand over the task [to reduce dwelling time] to Pelindo because it has its own interests,” Rizal said, referring to the state port operator.
According to Rizal, the taskforce has been given a month to slash the dwelling time at Tanjung Priok Port. Meanwhile, Ronnie said his taskforce is expected to reduce the dwelling time from the current 5.5 days to between 2.5 and 2 days by October.
“We have to achieve the target because it is what has been instructed by the President,” Ronnie said, adding that one of the taskforce’s first attempts to expedite the dwelling time was done by strengthening the IT system. He added the port would no longer process the pre-customs clearance with hard-copy documents.
Dwelling time indicates the average length of time a container spends at a seaport terminal. Shorter dwelling times indicate a more efficient shipment process and lower logistics costs.
According to the Finance Ministry’s customs office, out of the total average dwelling time of 5.5 days, 3.6 days are spent on pre-customs clearance, a process that involves layered procedures, as certain goods — especially edible products — must first receive verification from several institutions, such as the Trade Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM).
Rizal said increasing the number of priority importers (green line importers) and reducing the number of the red line importers (high-risk importers with containers that need to undergo several layers of examination) would significantly affect the dwelling time.
“Even though the number of importers categorized as red line importers are relatively small, only 6 percent, it affected the total dwelling time,” Rizal said. “We have asked the customs office to recheck the importers’ data, so those who are eligible can be included as green line importers,” he continued.
Rizal also planned to increase the warehouse fees at Tanjung Priok Port to prevent importers from stockpiling their cargo after their licenses had been issued. Around 43 percent of importers will wait to process their licenses for more than three days after the arrival of their cargo, apparently because of the low warehouse costs, data from the customs office show.
“We also understand that the non-tariff regulations are necessary to limit imports. However, currently there are 124 regulations from around 20 ministries and institutions at the port. We need to simplify these regulations to reduce the dwelling time,” Rizal said. Rizal also said that the Transportation Ministry’s port authority should also provide a buffer zone outside the port to quarantine high-risk goods.
“Everything is processed at the port, which of course causes a very long dwelling time. Therefore, using next year’s state budget, a buffer zone should be provided to accommodate cargo that needs to be quarantined,” Ronnie said. The minister also encouraged state-owned train operator KAI to continue its plan to provide train service up to Tanjung Priok Port’s loading and unloading area to speed up the flow of cargo.
