Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The practice of thuggery and extortion (extortion) in the port became the public spotlight. This started with the order of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to take action against thugs and perpetrators of illegal levies in Indonesia Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta, because they often annoy truck drivers.
For the community, workers and entrepreneurs in the port sector, this instruction is not something new. Such is the information conveyed by the General Chairperson of Indonesian Security and Safety (Kamselindo) Kyatmaja Lookman.
According to him, it is common knowledge that thuggery and extortion at the port have been going on for years. And even if it is eradicated, the ‘disease’ always appears again and again because there is no consistency in its eradication.
For this reason, Kyatmaja said this phenomenon is like deja vu, aka something that is repeated for truck and logistics entrepreneurs. He hopes that the eradication that is being carried out now will not be like in the past so that the practice of thuggery and extortion at ports can be completely clean.
In addition to eradicating thugs and extortion, so that similar problems do not occur, he also asked stakeholders related to the flow of containers to improve the system.
“The action must be carried out consistently. For example, using technology (digitalization), so that there is no gap for compromise, prolonging (queues) and others,” Kyatmaja said to CNNIndonesia.com, Tuesday (15/6).
He acknowledged that the nominal amount of illegal levies carried out by irresponsible persons was small. However, because they are often asked for, the nominal increases so that over time it also burdens entrepreneurs.
The reason is, extortion makes entrepreneurs have to spend more money to increase the expenditure of ‘travel money’ to drivers.
“Finally we were asked by the driver because the road money was not enough. So we finally asked for and charged it to consumers. But in the current situation it’s really difficult because the delivery is going down. he said.
Because it charges ‘travel money’ to consumers, shipping costs automatically increase. In fact, people definitely want shipping costs, aka cheap shipping, and even free, like when they shop at e-commerce.
“If the logistics costs are expensive, then investment will be lazy in Indonesia. But, it has been repeatedly highlighted, how come the problem of expensive logistics costs remains,” he added.
From this phenomenon, Kyatmaja wants the government to be really serious this time and cut down the extortion actions so that in the future it will not ‘one die, grow a thousand’, as has been the case. He provides input so that all transaction services are carried out using a digital system.
“So first come, first serve. If there is a priority for giving (extortion), yes, this is what destroys the order,” he said.
In the same vein, Indef Economist Tauhid Ahmad said that the government must do the eradication of thugs and illegal levies.
This is because a small and unpleasant incident at this port can have a broad impact on Indonesia’s business and investment climate, including the ranking of ease of doing business or competitiveness.Ease of Doing Business/EoDB).
“This is a problem that is clearly illustrated in our EoDB ranking; our port services are weak. Like what happened in Tanjung Priok, this is sometimes tight, sometimes it’s slack. This may not happen because of limited capacity, but indeed many parties take advantage of it. But like it or not I like it, this reflects our weak competitiveness, not to mention the high burden of logistics costs even though it has been reformed long ago,” said Tauhid.
Although it has been protracted, but the gravel for the competitiveness and investment climate of the country still needs to be addressed. The main way is routine, consistent, firm and thorough supervision.
“This action must be taken immediately, lest business actors or entrepreneurs wait for a report to the president. Because if this happens, it means that the system in the field has not worked. What is the security system, monitoring, data collection that creates long queues.reform,” he said.
In addition, take advantage of digitization so that the gap for extortion is getting narrower, even completely closed. What should not be left behind is the evaluation of one policy to another.
Fertile Extortion Hurts the Economy
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