BATAM – The Riau Islands is a strategic area as well as a maritime gateway in the region. Currently, shipping management in the region is known to have many challenges and problems.
Therefore, Committee II of Indonesian Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) held a meeting with the Mayor of Batam and related stakeholders.
During the working visit, Vice Chairman of Committee II of DPD RI Abdullah Puteh explained that his party saw the implementation of Act No. 17 Year 2008 on Shipping.
“Committee II sees Batam’s position as a maritime gateway with close regional trade relations between Singapore and Malaysia, and the crossing of foreign ships. It makes the city of Batam have an important role and position in shipping,” said Abdullah Puteh at the Batam Mayor’s Office, Riau Islands, Tuesday (4/6).
Furthermore, he said that his party is monitoring this law in Riau Islands Province and South Sulawesi Province.
According to him, these two provinces have strategic positions in both sea, air, and natural resource wealth in the context of very strategic marine and fisheries.
“We conduct direct supervision of the implementation of this shipping law, in order to know the current condition of our shipping from various stakeholders,” Puteh continued.
At the same time, Batam Mayor and Head of Batam Concession Agency (BP) Muhammad Rudi explained that coordination, planning, and investment in Batam City will be easier with the unified management between BP Batam and Batam City.
“Currently, One Stop Integrated Service has been implemented to facilitate investment and provide the best service,” he said.
He also promised, the development of Special Economic Zones in Batam City will be accelerated in the future.
“We hope DPD RI can bridge all the problems we face and bring it to the attention of the central government,” he said.
Ships struggle to get entry permit
Vice Chairman of Committee II of DPD RI Bustami Zainudin who was present at the location said that the 16-year journey of the implementation of the Shipping Law that was running certainly had many challenges and problems.
“We will summarize all the problems we encounter and bring them to the central government in order to get a solution to the problem,” he said.
During this working visit, Committee II found various inputs from various stakeholders.
Among them are the Ministry of Transportation which reports problems related to the entry permit of ships because of overlapping, coast guard related problems, and the Ministry of KKP which explains the condition of the fishing port that has not been owned by the government.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of PUPR reported on the construction of national roads due to land owned by BP Batam, as well as the limitation of authority to the Batam Special KSOP in the implementation and enforcement and supervision of ports.
In shipping safety, Pelindo highlighted the threat of accidents due to high traffic of foreign ships crossing many straits.
Pelni, on the other hand, hopes that the port facilities will be improved to accommodate all passengers during the Christmas-New Year holiday.
Field Visit to Batam Centre Port
As a series of supervision of the implementation of Act No. 17 Year 2008, Committee II of DPD RI conducted a field visit to the Port of Batam Centre.
Committee II was received by the Director of Sea and Coast Guard Unit Jon Kenedi and Director of Batam Port Business Entity Dendi Gustinandar.
During this visit, the Director of Batam Port Business Entity Dendi Gustinandar gave an explanation to the Committee II regarding information on all services, operational management, and governance in Batam Centre Port.
The leaders and members of Committee II DPD RI who attended consisted of Vice Chairmen of Committee II Abdullah Puteh and Bustami Zainudin and members of Committee II Intsiawati Ayus, Denty Eka Widi Pratiwi, Badikenita Sitepu, Agustin Teras Narang, Angelius Wake Kako, Eni Sumarni, Emma Yohanna, Amaliah Sobli, and Namto Roba.
Also present were stakeholders from the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of KKP, Ministry of PUPR, Office of Harbour Master and Port Authority, BP Batam, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo), PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia (Pelni), academic experts and associations, as well as foundation groups engaged in shipping.
