JAKARTA - The Presidential Staff Office said that the Sea Toll Road Program still needs to be optimized in order to be able to reduce price disparities, especially in eastern Indonesia.
"Especially for regional governments in Eastern Indonesia. So that traffic of goods does not only flow from West to East, but also vice versa," said Chief Expert of Deputy I of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Helson Siagian as quoted by Antara, Sunday, April 17.
So far, Helson said, the Sea Toll Program has succeeded in reducing price disparities for several commodities. However, President Joko Widodo's flagship program still needs optimization to have a wider impact.
KSP, said Helson, will continue to oversee the implementation of the Sea Highway, including providing assistance to local governments to improve product competitiveness.
He said the Sea Highway is also a program of the Head of State to equalize development and improve community welfare. For this reason, the Sea Highway must be optimized to realize the connectivity of the islands in Indonesia in order to facilitate logistics mobility.
"Good connectivity is expected to reduce logistics costs and improve community welfare," said Helson.
Previously, KSP had held a Sea Toll Road Optimization Coordination Meeting at the Bina Graha Building, Jakarta, Friday, April 16. Director of Traffic and Sea Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation Antoni Arif Priadi at the meeting said that the implementation of the Sea Toll program had experienced a significant increase since it was implemented in 2016.
Until 2021, the number of sea toll transit ports has increased to 103 points from 31 points in 2016. Likewise, the number of ship fleets has increased from 6 ships in 2016 to 30 vessels in 2021, and the number of routes has increased from 6 routes in 2016 to 30 route in 2021.
"The increased operation of the sea highway has succeeded in reducing price fluctuations and reducing price disparities for various commodities, particularly in Eastern Indonesia," said Antoni.
Secretary of the Directorate General of Domestic Trade, Ministry of Trade, I Gusti Ketut Astawa, added that the decline in prices in the first quarter of 2021 reached 40.5 percent for several commodities. For example, the price of construction steel measuring 16 mm in South Halmahera Regency which is transported via the Sea Highway is Rp. 119,000 per kilogram, much lower than if it is not via the Sea Toll, which reaches Rp. 200,000 per kilogram.
Other commodities that experienced significant price changes include the price of Ras chicken in South Buru Regency, which fell from Rp. 60,000 per kilogram to Rp. 45,000 per kilogram, and the price of garlic in Fakfak Regency fell from Rp. 40,000 per kilogram to Rp. The price of soybeans in Muna Regency has decreased from IDR 15,000 per kilogram to IDR 9,600 per kilogram.
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