Indonesian Port Operators Team Up to Boost Efficiency
In a move to boost business and improve efficiency at the country’s seaports, the government has called on several arms of state port operator Pelabuhan Indonesia to set up a container terminal company.
The seaport operators that will be affected are Pelindo I, Pelindo II, Pelindo III and Pelindo IV.
State Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the four state companies had agreed to set up a container terminal facility called Peti Kemas Indonesia.
“[The establishment] of the company is almost complete,” Dahlan said after holding a meeting at Gambir railway station in Jakarta.
The establishment of PKI is meant to boost coordination and cooperation among seaport operators in handling cargo shipment in the country’s main seaports. Pelindo II handles the operation of 12 ports, including Teluk Bayur in Padang, West Sumatra; Jambi in Jambi; Palembang in South Sumarta; Banten in Banten province; and Tanjung Priok and Sunda Kelapa in North Jakarta. It also operates Cirebon in West Java.
Pelindo I handles several large ports in the northern part of Sumatra, including Belawan in Medan, North Sumatra. Belawan is known as one of Indonesia’s main commodity ports.
Dahlan said the container terminal company was expected to supervise the operations of all shipping and other related activities in all the country’s seaports.
“All the container terminal activities and operations will be supervised by Peti Kemas,” he said. Dahlan also said the supervision by one single entity would improve efficiency.
He said the container terminal activities in other ports such as in Medan, Batam, Surabaya, Makassar and Sorong, West Papua, would be better supervised and monitored, which in turn would increase overall efficiency.
The minister did not disclose the financial details of the company, though he did say that the four seaport operators had a strong financial position.
“Let’s wait within this week when we have details of the investment plan,” Dahlan said.
Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta is the busiest port in the archipelago, handling almost 50 percent of the country’s total export and import activities.
It is also operating at its maximum capacity. Pelindo II plans to spend Rp 52.6 trillion ($5.6 billion) in the next two years to build three new seaports in the country in a move to help reduce logistics costs and container congestion.
R.J. Lino, president director of Pelindo II, said on June 27 that the company would build a Rp 22.6 trillion port, called New Priok, in Kalibaru, seven kilometers west of Tanjung Priok. The state-controlled enterprise also plans to build ports in Sorong and in Tanjung Sauh, Batam, which would cost Rp 10 trillion and Rp 20 trillion respectively.
The Kalibaru project would include three container terminals, an oil and gas terminal and a seven-kilometer toll road linking it to Tanjung Priok. Lino said the company had secured an Rp 11 trillion loan from Bank Mandiri for the first phase of construction, which will start this month.
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