Jakarta – Activity at major ports in Jakarta, North Sumatra, Central and East Java ground to a halt Monday, with container truck owners and drivers going on strike over the imposition of value-added tax (VAT) on transportation services and of rampant extortion at the ports.
Loading and unloading activities were halted at the ports of Belawan, Tanjung Priok, Tanjungmas and Tanjung Perak as transportation owners and drivers protested outside their gates. The cessation of activities affected shipments for exports and imports, causing billions of rupiah in losses to the government and businesspeople.
Of about 8,000 trucks and trailers usually serving Tanjung Priok Port, only about a dozen, believed to be owned by tax officials, ignored the call to strike. Thousands of stevedores were idle, and the tax and excise office was silent.
About 1,700 drivers held a sit-in outside Tanjungmas Port in Semarang, Central Java, after they parked their trucks and trailers on the road leading to the port.
They demanded the government revoke Ministerial Decree No. 527/2003 which applies VAT on transportation services at the ports.
"The operation will only resume after the government meets our demands," said Murphy Hutagalung, chairman of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), which led the work stoppage.
Lumumba Pandjaitan, owner of three trailer trucks, said he suspended their operation because it was the appropriate time to eradicate numerous illegal as well as legitimate levies at the ports, noting income of transport owners and drivers had plummeted since fuel price hikes last year.
Chairman of the Indonesian National Shipowners' Association Oentoro Surya said the government must act quickly to end the dispute because of the domino-effect on the economy. He estimated the strike could cause between Rp 100 billion (US$10.9 million) and Rp 200 billion in losses per day at the four seaports.
Hendra Budhi, spokesman for state-owned PT Pelindo II, operator of Tanjung Priok, said the stoppage at the Jakarta port could cause daily losses of Rp 1.8 billion to the company.
Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa, saying Organda's decision to carry through with its threat to strike was regrettable, was concerned about severe economic repercussions, especially in trade amid the government's efforts to improve investment.
"In quantitative terms alone, the strike has already resulted in about 5,000 containers at Tanjung Priok Port piling up and left unattended, while by qualitative terms it may affect the whole economy," he was quoted as saying by Antara newswire after a meeting with the strikers at the port.
The port's assistant manager for services, Hambar Wiyadi, warned of the total shutdown of the port if the strike continues for three or four days, affecting the port's Rp 30 million in daily revenues. Tanjung Priok Port usually serves up to 3,000 containers from at least 30 ships each day.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the government was open to proposals to revise the decree if necessary, but it would be done in strict accordance with the VAT law.
"We will see if there indeed needs any clarification in the application of VAT in the decree," she said. "We will clear this up, in reference to the VAT law."
[With additional reporting by Apriadi Gunawan in Medan, Suherdjoko in Semarang and Indra Harsaputra in Surabaya.]