Still Use Old Tariffs Despite Rising Fuel Prices, Pelni Ambon Waits For Central Instruction

Illustration of a ship PT Pelni. (Photo via ANTARA/John Soplanit)

AMBON - The increase in fuel oil prices (BBM) has made public transportation rates also increase.

However, PT Pelni seems to have not taken a policy to increase the ship's ticket tariff. The head of PT Pelni's Ambon branch, Ilhamda, said that his party is still implementing old tariffs even though fuel has increased since 3 September.

"We from PT Pelni Ambon Branch have not increased the ship's tariff, to this day ticket prices still use old tariffs," Ilhamda said as quoted by Antara, Saturday, September 10.

Ilhamda explained why his party had not raised the ship's ticket tariff. According to him, the tariff adjustment is still waiting for the decision or instructions of the Central Pelni.

"The point is that the ticket price of the Pelni ship has not gone up. Even if there is a change, there must be instructions from PT. Central Pelni to us in the branch to carry it out," he said.

He admitted, the current price of ship tickets has not changed for a long time or increased in recent years. This is because the state-owned company is still able to find other sources of financing for the lack of shipping operations.

"So the public who use sea transportation from Ambon to the provinces of Papua and West Papua and to the central and western regions do not need to worry because the tariffs for ships have not increased. We are still waiting for instructions from the Center," he said.

He admitted, based on the results of the evaluation in the last year, the number of ship passengers increased by 20 percent, due to the surge in aircraft transportation costs, so that prospective passengers switched to using sea transportation.