Jakarta, Aug 24 (Antara) - The prices of commodities are exceptionally high in Papua Province compared to the other regions in the country due to constraints in transportation.
One of the commodities in the province whose price has skyrocketed and has reached one to two million per sack is cement.
In order to solve the high price disparity, the government is currently boosting road infrastructure and port development while launching an integrated air and sea toll routes that would facilitate cargo and human transportation in Papua.
The government, through Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE), Rini Soemarno, has promised to take efforts to cut the disparity of cement prices in Papua.
"I promise that I would try to further lower the price of cement so that it can be made affordable to the people in the two districts of Puncak Jaya and Jayawijaya, the mountainous region in Papua. Hopefully, one day, the price in the mountainous and coastal areas will both be the same, "Soemarno stated in Timika on Wednesday.
The government is therefore launching the affordable cement program currently been carried out in synergy with five state-owned companies, namely PT Semen Indonesia Tbk, PT Pelni, PT Pelindo IV, PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia (PPI), and PT Pos Indonesia.
Through the program, cement supplies from PT Semen Tonasa (a subsidiary of PT Semen Indonesia) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, are delivered to Papua via Pomako port, Timika. It can help the people in Papua obtain cement at a more affordable price.
Currently, the cement that arrives in Timika will be sent to Wamena by flight. PT Semen Indonesia, along with PPI, will conduct control and supervision of cement distribution to the local market.
As for the distribution of cement to end customers, PPI will work with local entrepreneurs to deliver cement by road to other mountainous districts such as Puncak Jaya, Tolikara, Lanny Jaya, Nduga, Yalimo, and Membramo Tengah.
The minister revealed that the program succeeded in lowering the price of cement, such as in Puncak Jaya, where the price is now Rp500 thousand per 40-kilogram sack compared to the previous price of Rp2 million. Also in Wamena, the price, which was once Rp580 thousand per sack, has gone down to Rp370 thousand.
"We are slowly trying to lower logistics costs gradually. It is a major constraint to sell goods because regions in Indonesia are far separated from each other. The logistics processes and deliveries are also complicated that a plane and ship must be used. Deliveries through land lanes cause the price to become high. We are trying to keep bring the logistics costs down slowly," Soemarno revealed.
However, the minister admitted that it was difficult to directly launch a single cement price, like that of fuel, due to a number of constraints in land transportation routes.
However, she hopes that a single-priced cement target can be realized if road access, which is now being developed in the central mountainous areas in Papua, could be completed.
"Of course, the realization of access routes will cut logistics costs. Thus, in Wamena and its surrounding areas, the prices will at least become better," she asserted.
After all, the government¿s plan to cut price disparity in the easternmost province of Indonesia is being carried out through an integrated sea and air toll route program. To integrate transportation of cargo from other regions through the sea line, the government, through the SOE ministry, also encourages the upgrading of Pomako seaport in Timika.
Pomako is in the main port in the southern coastal areas of Papua Province. "This is the main port, and we hope that it would be expanded because the logistics deliveries through this port from other regions will increase in the future," the minister remarked.
Air Transportation Director General Agus Santoso told a discussion in Jakarta last March that the air toll program would be integrated with the sea toll program, which had been implemented since 2015. The sea toll program could only deliver logistics to coastal regions of Papua such as Timika and Sorong.
According to Santoso, the air toll program will first focus on mountainous regions in Papua, such as Wamena, Timika, Yahukimo, Ilaga, and Marauke. "We will develop the air toll program, particularly in Papua. We have learnt that when the sea toll is operated, the prices go down by 20 percent. It happens only in coastal regions, while in remote areas, the price disparities still remain high. Therefore, we will distribute cargos by airplanes," the director general stated.
Regarding the transportation of cement from Timika to Wamena, the TNI AU used a Hercules aircraft, which is able to transport about 12 tons once a week. The cement was previously dispatched through the sea toll from Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The delivery of cement to Papua is being carried out in cooperation with five state-owned companies (SOEs). ***3*** (A014/INE) EDITED BY INE (T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 24-08-2017 20:20: |
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