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laiming that its huge contribution through Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is not offset by the intake from the central government, the Dumai administration is planning to introduce a regulation with a view to raising revenues from the commodity.

“Dumai has been hailed as the biggest CPO port in Indonesia for the past three years. Unfortunately, It has received nothing. All revenues from exports of CPO are going to Jakarta. What’s left are damaged roads and air pollution,” Mayor Khairul Anwar said recently.

Based on the data at the Trade, Industry and Investment Agency, CPO exports through Dumai Port shipped to 83 countries, reached 7.5 million tons in 2010, or worth US$ 5.5 billion. It was an increase by $1.5 billion from the previous year.

CPO land traffic has been blamed for the deterioration of roads, with the main section heading to the downtown area being dotted with 40 centimeter-deep potholes.

The damage causes traffic congestion and extended journey times;it takes on average two hours to drive the 22-kilometer road.

“Residents are always pointing to the local government, while the upkeep of national roads is part of the central government’s responsibilities. The central government should not only think about how to increase revenues from CPO but also how to allocate more funds to roadworks,” Khairul said.

He said they were developing a regulation to claim a share of the total levies from CPO exports, all of which are enjoyed by the central government.

“This plan is logical. More that 100 CPO plants operate in Riau and send it to Dumai. It’s logical if Dumai charges levies on the CPO before it is shipped out,” he said.

“Export levies on CPO tend to increase and this year it is expected to reach Rp 14 trillion. If we can receive just one percent, it means Rp 100 billion [sic] in revenue for Dumai, which can be used to improve infrastructure,” he said.

Councilor Agus Purwanto supported the plan, saying that Dumai got nothing, while it contributed Rp 349 trillion to the state from exports of oil and gas and other commodities.

“Funds going back to Dumai is only right. I wonder why the 2011 state budget only allocates Rp 91 billion to repair roads damaged by CPO export activities? That amount of allocation is illogical if we compare it with the 27 percent contribution Dumai gives to the central government,” he said.