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AKARTA: Some executives are complaining about corruption, bribery and extortion at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Tanjung Priok Seaport in Greater Jakarta.

Bambang Sumoto, the director of PT Sibelco, a water drilling company based in Tangerang, Banten, said that his shipment of pipes worth Rp 150 million (US$15,500) from China has been held for a month at a customes warehouse in Tanjung Priok. He said that he refused to pay bribes to customs officers to have his shipment released.

“The process of taking imported goods out of the customs warehouse should take no more than three days, according to the customs procedures,” Bambang said.

Another executive, Heriyanto, from a garment factory in Tangerang, said he had to bribe several customs officials to release his goods.

“The sum of the money asked for by the officers ranged from Rp 10,000 to Rp 1 million, depending on the volume and the weight of the goods.”

The officials also charged him an additional fee for “cargo delivery services”.

The owner of a cargo shipment company who declined to be named also claimed that airport officials had shaken him down for a bribe through “service agents”.

“This is a well-organized operation. Officials from the customs office purposely create opportunities for middlemen operate,” the owner said.

Oza Olivia, the head of the customs office at the airport and Iyan Rubianto, the head of Tanjung Priok’s customs office, declined to comment.