T

anjung Priok Port Authority is to again revise a fee scheme for container stacking at the country'€™s busiest port after criticism from business players over a new regulation that is aimed at streamlining flow of goods and reduce dwelling time.

Under the new regulation, effective March 1, owners must clear their containers from Tanjung Priok on the day of arrival. Failure to do so will result in a 900 percent penalty of the Rp 27,200 (US$2.07) base tariff for stacking service for 20 feet container per day.

But the new rule is being opposed by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin), as it may result in higher costs for businesses. Previously, container stacking for the first three days of arrival was free, with a progressive rate afterwards.

Tanjung Priok Port Authority will consider Kadin'€™s aspirations and will revise the new regulation within this month.

'€œWe see that there have been protests from Kadin. We have had a meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister. We will fix the scheme,'€ Tanjung Priok Port Authority head Bay M. Hasani said last weekend.

The revision of the new container stacking regulation is still expected to streamline the flow of goods and reduce dwell time at Tanjung Priok, a hub for more than 50 percent of the goods shipped in and out of Indonesia, which currently stood at between 3.6 days to 4.5 days.

This week, a new scheme will be discussed with state port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Pelindo II), which will impose any charges in port, which had committed to comply with the plan. The new scheme then could start taking effect in the next two weeks.

The scheme may charge container owners the Rp 27,200 base tariff on the day of arrival, with a progressive rate on the following days, for example 500 percent of base tariff on the second day and 750 percent on the third day, and so on.

'€œSo this doesn'€™t mean the progressive tariff is eradicated. We don'€™t want the current dwelling time, which had done pretty well, to get worse again,'€ he added.

President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has put reducing dwelling time among his top priorities to lower logistics costs and raise the competitiveness of Southeast Asia'€™s largest economy, having targeted two to three days waiting time at the port, from up to a week before his administration.

The Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister dwelling time task force head Agung Kuswandono reiterated that the port was not a place to stack the containers and that Pelindo II business had never relied on that.

The move to apply 900 percent penalty levy has incited backlash from the businessplayers, as they were of the view that the imposition of higher fees had no immediate correlation to reducing dwelling times and ran counter to the government'€™s efforts to reduce logistics costs.

Bay admitted that the policy might have caused a '€œshock among business players'€.

He said that Pelindo and the authority would also change the way they counted the start of the day, which would be based on hours, not calendar day, as some ships arrived really late at night. It would also start counting the duration by the time the containers had been lifted from the ships.

Pelindo will likely not to charge the levy in Saturday and Sunday.

Kadin deputy chairman for logistics and supply chain management Rico Rustombi said that he appreciated the government'€™s move to respond to the protest.

'€œBut the new progressive tariff scheme should not be more expensive than the last regulation. We even hope it can be cheaper,'€ he added.