Thousands Of Containers Still Stuck At Priok’s Red Line
JAKARTA—Thousands of shipping containers from overseas with red line category are yet to undergo physical inspection from Tanjung Priok’s Custom and Excise until Wednesday (7/3).
This condition exacerbates the dwelling time in the red line to 13-17 days (June) from the previous average of 10-13 days (April).
There are several stages in the dwelling time for container in the red line to undergo physical inspection (behandle).
It begins with the issuance of Custom and Excise’s notice letter for red line (SPJM), followed by the filing of request for container relocation from its origin terminal to the behandle location or known as BAT, container removal process to the behandle location, physical inspection up to the issuance of goods exit permit (SPPB) before exiting the port.
More than 733 containers or equivalent to 976 TEUs that are already equipped with SPJM and moved from JICT to the behandle location have not undergo physical inspection from Priok’s Custom and Excise.
Meanwhile, there are 250 containers or equivalent to 351 TEUs with the same condition from Koja Container Terminal (TPK Koja). The amount does not include 700 containers that enters the red line but not yet moved to the behandle location from JICT and TPK Koja for more than two weeks.
Finari Manan, Head of Compliance and Guidance Information Services for Tanjung Priok’s Custom and Excise, said there is no more container queue in custom clearance and physical inspection on the red line (behandle). “There is a zero queue.”
According to him, more than 140 officers are being prepared to conduct physical inspection. He even questioned the validity of the data belonging to Indonesian Council of Transportation Servicers’ Users (Depalindo). “What is Depalindo? Let’s ask the priority line for balanced data.”
Depalindo is urging the Directorate General of Custom and Excise to come to Tanjung Priok Port and see the stagnation problem directly.
The Chairman of Depalindo Toto Dirgantoro even considered the Priok’s Custom and Excise as a naive institution and can’t accept criticism because the institution should be more pro-public and boost performance in order to gain trust from the public and entrepreneurs in the port.
“This is fact, please do cross check, ask to the port customs service officers. Priok Customs performance is very slow,” he said.
Depalindo is an official organization established in 1976 and now comprised 14 associations including textile association that serves to handle its members’ complaints regarding shipping issues, port charges as well as Customs and quarantine.
When there are criticism related to services, public officials should sit together to find solution. Therefore Toto hopes the government especially President and Ministries should be more sensitive to the public services weaknesses, and then the reform should be done in the Directorate General of Customs and Excise for the sake of national economic, to reduce logistic cost, cut bureaucracy cost as well as eliminate arrogant and ego of officials.
Recently, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia is preparing five locations of temporary storage area (TPS) with a total land area of 8.8 hectares as additional backup area to accommodate import containers that have not been through the clearance from JICT and Koja container terminal (TPK Koja) to avoid stagnation in Tanjung Priok Port.
According to Tanjung Priok Port General Manager Ari Henryanto, those five TPS are located in line 2 field of Tanjung Priok Port within the area of Customs and Excise Main Office. Their locations are office center land area of 2 ha, Glorius land and the former Bank Mandiri office area of 2.8 ha, union field are of 3 ha, 106 field area of 1 ha.
He expects the five TPS could be used in this mid-year or as early as the fasting month. “We are currently processing the permit for those TPS locations to Directorate General of Custom and Excise at the Ministry of Finance. Hopefully, it doesn’t take a long time,” he said, Tuesday (7/2).
The buffer of import containers from container terminals (JICT and TPK Koja) is in collaboration with a number of private TPS located within the area of Tanjung Priok Customs and Excise. The container relocation pattern from container terminal to TPS destination is using relocation document or overbrengen. (aph)