Priok port access badly damaged

Aditya Suharmoko and Novia D. Rulistia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The flow of goods to and from Tanjung Priok port has been further disrupted due to worsening road conditions and a scarcity of trailers, Director General of Customs and Excise Anwar Suprijadi said Thursday.

Up to 60 percent of import-export activities in the country go through Tanjung Priok port, government records said.

Anwar said delivery time and operational costs for companies had been adversely affected.

"The total losses from this is huge," he said without disclosing figures.

"I have reported it to the Secretary of Cabinet and a special team under the President overseeing the flow of goods."

The Land Transportation Organization (Organda) said potential losses due to the damaged Cakung-Cilincing road heading to Tanjung Priok could reach about Rp 2.2 billion (about US$243,000) for trailer renters every day.

Jakarta's Organda chairman Herry Rotti told The Jakarta Post damaged roads, which led to the scarcity of trailers, had decreased the total rate of truck cycles by half, from 4,000 a day.

"From one cycle, truck owners can have around Rp 1 million, which is a difference of 2,000 cycles, so their loss could reach Rp 2 billion," he said.

In addition, the maintenance expenses from 6,000 trucks at the port would be higher, reaching around Rp 200 million a day, he said.

"The only solution is to fix the roads," he said.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry vice president overseeing transportation Chris Kanter confirmed the rates of trailer cycles to the port had been decreasing, particularly since the rainy season.

"Usually, a trailer can do three to five cycles a day," Chris said.

"Now it can do only one. Exports and imports are definitely in trouble."

Indonesia's ranking this year in the transportation infrastructure area dropped from 89 to 91.

Since September, the Cakung-Cilincing road has been widened from two lanes to three and has been raised slightly.

Director of highways and city roads at the Public Works Ministry Harris Batubara said traffic congestion was not only because of road reparations, but was also because trucks stopped roadside to repair blown tires.

He said the project was expected to finish mid year.

The government has allocated Rp 61.9 trillion for infrastructure spending in 2008, and about Rp 33.8 trillion would be spent on transportation infrastructure.