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None
of these have done Indonesia any good especially
when sea ports are seen as vital trade facilitators.
"Based
on our calculations, Terminal Peti Kemas
Indonesia and the Pendulum Nusantara system
will help reduce logistics costs by up to
50 percent, especially in the eastern regions
of Indonesia", declared Richard Joost
Lino, the president director of Pelindo
II, who has been tasked to oversee the PT
Terminal Peti Kemas Indonesia.
"A
private entity may prove better", argued
a source close to PT Arpeni, one of Indonesia's
largest shipping companies, adding in the
same breath that regulators and port authorities
will possibly work closer to sort out niggling
issues in port administrations.
Port
inefficiencies, bottle necks, congestion
and other "kinks" in Indonesia's
supply chain are the bane driving unusually
high inflation rates in the country.
The
heart of the matter, as has been openly
acknowledged, is how Indonesian ports can
be made leaner, responsive to vessel calls
and yet be able to affect quick turnarounds.
"We
are ready to make this company successful
to help energise trade and reduce logistics
costs in our country. I guarantee that all
of us [Pelindo I to IV] are going to work
hard to make this happen because we believe
in Indonesia's potential," Mr Lino
said, leaving none in doubt to the nuance
behind what is meant by the intent to reduce
logistics costs and its implicit reference
to inflation actually being a function of
transport costs.
In
news reports carried widely across the nation,
the four Pelindo companies have secured
an investment of $318 million in Peti Kemas.
The
container terminal company will operate
in six main ports across the archipelago
as part of Pelindo's Pendulum Nusantara
program. These include Belawan in northern
Sumatra; Batam in Riau Islands; Tanjung
Priok in Jakarta; Tanjung Perak in East
Java; Makassar in South Sulawesi, and Sorong
in West Papua.
Plans
are also afoot to accommodate the new business
by deepening the ports' drafts and fixing
their waterways and channels.
These
include dredging the seven-metre draft of
Tanjung Perak port, the 10.5 meter draft
of Belawan port, and the nine meter draft
of Makassar port to 13 meters.
And
all the ports should have a draft of at
least 13 meters in order to handle ships
of 3,000-TEU capacity.
The
nation itself recorded an enviable growth
rate of some 6.5 per cent in 2011 but has
since decline to 6.2 per cent in 2012 and
5.7 per cent in 2013, attributed anaemic
growth in the US and in Europe.
Nonetheless,
it remains a trillion-dollar economy, it
is likely to find funds needed for the port
development.
The
World Bank has also earmarked $12 billion
to add to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
commitment to building roads, ports and
airports.
That
is apart from the continuing pouring in
of foreign direct investments flowing into
the country.
Finances
may not be a problem for now. Something
else will.
"Human
resources are the key to success,"
Mr Lino once told foreign media. "I
want to build a world-class operation with
world-class human resources. What's the
point of building infrastructure if I don't
have people to run it?"
With
its sights set on becoming a ship building
power and maritime arbitration centre, Mr
Lino hit the nail where it just mattered.
Finance
is not the issue. What needs searching for
is an easy way around human capital.
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