Rizal Ramli said the port authority at Tanjung Priok currently had no power to take a decision, unlike during the Dutch colonial era.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The new Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Rizal Ramli, has set up a task force to reduce dwelling time at Jakartas Tanjung Priok port.
"Meetings cannot not be useful unless they are followed up by a task force. No significant change will happen (unless there is a task force)," he said at a press conference after holding a coordination meeting on the issue at his office on Tuesday.
He said the port authority at Tanjung Priok currently had no power to take a decision, unlike during the Dutch colonial era.
He said that during the Dutch era, the "Port Authority of Tanjung Priok" was responsible for all affairs and dared to take a decision when a problem came up at the port.
"Now, it is a mere symbol. It has no power. So, we will give more power to the organization and its personnel in order to create a port authority that has the power to take decisions," he said.
Ramli said he would not let the port authority be handled by a private company, in this case PT Pelindo II, for fear of vested interests creeping in.
"It is impossible to submit it to Pelindo II because businessmen have vested interests. The more the dwelling time is, the higher the companys income will be. So there must be an authority that is in charge of our national interest," he said.
In connection with this, he said he had appointed Ronnie Rusli Higuchi, a lecturer at the state Indonesia University, who used to hold a post in the Ministry of Finance and the office of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs as the coordinator of the task force.
Higuchi will be assisted by an adviser to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Admiral Marsetio, who is a also a former Navy chief of staff, and second deputy for natural resource and service coordination, Agung Kuswandono, who is a former director general of customs and excise.
They will also be assisted by two-star police generals, two-star navy generals and two-star army generals while carrying out their tasks.
"We understand that there is a lot of "mafia" operating in the Tanjung Priok. We will banish them if they still continue with their activities. We will also remove officials who play games. We will terminate the contracts of privates businesses that protract service processes. We will not hesitate to act," the minister said.
At a cabinet meeting recently President Joko Widodo had ordered the new minister to reduce the dwelling time at the port to a maximum of four days from the present approximately six days and had given the minister until the end of October.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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