Faisal Basri Questions Jokowi's Sea Toll Project: Don't Make Misleading Terms

JAKARTA - The rising commodity prices are influenced by logistics costs which are still expensive. In fact, Indonesia's logistics costs are more expensive than neighboring Malaysia. For this reason, the government is also aggressively carrying out infrastructure development. However, this is considered not to be a solution to overcome the high cost of logistics.

Senior economist Faisal Basri explained that national logistics costs accounted for 22 percent of the domestic gross domestic product (GDP). This figure is so large and can cause an increase in the price of the transported commodity.

"So, did logistics go down because of infrastructure? Yes, it really doesn't. , quoted Friday, April 8th.

Meanwhile, according to Faisal, land transportation is 10 times more expensive than sea transportation. He also questioned the project that had been carried out by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), namely the sea toll road for logistics transportation cost efficiency.

"So Pak Jokowi has forgotten that he had declared sea toll roads, maritime axes and all kinds of things, but nothing was done and the concept was wrong, but that's what happened. So toll roads are speeding up, ports are rarely taken care of other than Patimban," he added.

Meanwhile, said Faisal, other ports seemed to be ignored. Thus, there is no dredging for port expansion. As a result, only small ships can lean in the harbor.

"If only small ships can dock, the cost is also more expensive. So the infrastructure doesn't kick in," he said.

Faisal also criticized the term sea toll which was predicted by the Jokowi government. According to him, the sea is actually a 'toll' that is free of obstacles unlike on land.

"I want to start from the term, don't make misleading terms. Sea tolls are because the mind is land, land (toll) thoughts are carried to the sea. At sea, all Pak Jokowi toll roads, no speed bumps, no need to use cement "There is no need to use asphalt, all toll roads (sea) are like that," he said.