KAI advised to stop transporting PTBA?s coal from S. Sumatra
Thursday, December 19 2002 - 04:00 AM WIB
Legislator M. Rosyid Hidayat from Commission IV of the House of Representatives in charge of transportation affairs said PTBA currently got too low pay for carrying coal from PTBA?s coal mining sites in Muara Enim, South Sumatra to Palembang, also in South Sumatra, and from Muara Enim to Lampung.
Low transportation tariffs has caused KAI suffer annual losses of Rp51 billion (US$=Rp8,800), according to Rosyid.
?If PTBA refuses to raise the tariffs, I suggest that KAI stop transporting its coal. Agreement on the tariffs should be annulled because it contradicts normal business principles,? Rosyid said.
PTBA and KAI had signed a three-year contract to transport coal from Muara Enim to Palembang?s Kertapati port and Lampung?s Tarahan port from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2004. The contract obliges PTBA to pay Rp25,000-Rp30,000 to KAI for each ton of coal transported to Tarahan, and Rp13,000 for each ton of coal carried to Kertapati.
From Tarahan, the coal is shipped to Suralaya power plant in Banten on Java Island.
In October 2002, due to demand from KAI, PTBA agreed to raise the tariffs. Under the new agreement which was endorsed by the state minister of state enterprises, KAI receives Rp37,000 for each ton of coal for the Muara Enim ?Tarahan route, and Rp20,000 for each ton of coal carried to Kertapati. Tarahan is located 420 kilometers from Muara Enim.
According to the agreement, however, the Rp37,000 tariff applies if KAI transports 8.5 million tons of coal annually, and the tariff will be lowered if less coal is carried from Muara Enim to Tarahan.
Meanwhile, KAI said that it had capacity to carry only 6.5 million tons of coal annually from Muara Enim to Karahan.
Recently, KAI leaders complained that the new tariffs were still too low, and asked the government to review them. (*)