VP gives port operators two years improve Tanjung Priok Port

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla gave the seaport operators in Indonesia two years improve and develop Jakarta`s Tanjung Priok port into one of the best in Southeast Asia.

Currently, Tanjung Priok port is comparable only to the port in Cambodia, by inferior to those in Singapore and Thailand, the vice president said when making an inspection of Tanjung Priok port on Wednesday.

In developing a sea port, there must be clear sectors, Kalla said, adding that the container sector, for instance, must be separated form the car export-import and cargo terminals

The vice president earlier dedicated the Jakarta Car Terminal whose activities include loading and unloading cars for exports, imports and for domestic needs.

The inaugural function was marked by the mooring of 172-meter MV Fuji Transworld Voyage 83 which unloaded 979 imported Toyota cars of different types from Thailand, Japan and Singapore.

After the unloading operation, 250 Toyota and Daihatsu cars were loaded onto the vessel for export to Thailand and Japan.

The vice president said, "if we think of car export-imports, there must be a special port to preserve the cars".

On the domestic need of cars, the vice president said it would be difficult to distribute cars to the regions in the country, if such a special port was not yet in place.

Pertaining to the smuggling of luxurious cars into the country, he said the cars managed to enter Indonesia in containers.

"Luxurious cars were always smuggled into the country in containers and it is to be dealt with by customs personnel, not the port authority," he said.