The government’s effort to improve services at seaports has suffered a setback, as indicated by the worsening dwell time to 3.6 days in the first half of 2017 from 2.9 days in late 2016.

The Transportation Ministry’s maritime affairs director general, Antonius Tonny Budiman, said the longer dwell time was caused by an increase in freight volume at the ports, particularly prior to the Idul Fitri holiday.

“There are long queues. It affects dwell time,” Tonny said as reported by kompas.com over the weekend, adding that his office would evaluate activities at ports to make sure dwell time could be immediately shortened.

If there were problems in loading and unloading activities, the system would be improved, but if the problem is administrative, Tonny added, he would punish officials who caused the problem.

The government in the middle of June launched its 15th economic package, which is aimed at improving logistics in the country through the enhancement of the role of transportation insurance, reducing costs for logistics service providers, strengthening the Indonesia National Single Window (INSW) authority and reducing the number of prohibited and restricted goods.

More details for the economic package will be stipulated in the 16th economic package, said Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution.

Source: BBN