High tides continue to cause headaches in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post 26 Dec 07;

Almost 100 fish processing companies located in North Jakarta's Muara Baru have been forced to cease operations due to high tides that have inundated the area for several weeks.

The Nizam Zachman fishing port in Muara Baru, which is home to 163 companies, is not accessible to vehicles carrying fish during the day as the road leading up to it is generally flooded.

As of Monday, floodwaters in the area had reached 1.2 meters.

Head of the port Bambang Sutejo said only 66 companies located in the area had been able to continue operating.

"The rest have temporarily closed down," Bambang told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Bambang said fishing boats were not affected by the tides and were able to dock at the port at any time of the day.

However, catches could not be transported directly to fish processors and exporting companies until the high tides receded, which usually occurred after 5 p.m.

"If vehicles cannot pass the road until 5 p.m., workers have to wait for hours and work overtime. Companies have to pay more in wages and the health of workers is also at risk," he said.

Bambang said companies operating at the port exported fish products to Europe, Japan and the United States.

He said some 41,000 workers were employed at the port, which also provides fish to more than 500 local retail stores and 100 street vendors.

"We have lost on average 50 percent of our usual daily revenue," Bambang said.

On a normal day, companies at the port collectively make up to Rp 10 billion from 110 tons of fish brought in by fishing boats.

"But now this figure has fallen to around Rp 5 billion per day from 90 tons of fish," Bambang said.

He said even though fish supplies had only dropped by 20 tons, slower distribution had decreased the price of fish.

Suparjo, the general manager of PT Pelindo II Sunda Kelapa, said high tides had also affected business at neighboring Sunda Kelapa port.

"Because of the high tides, many ships have chosen to dock at Tanjung Priok port. We have lost hundreds of millions of rupiah because of this," Suparjo told the Post on Monday.

He said his company tried to prevent flooding by building retainer walls. However, the tides were higher than the 100-centimeter walls, resulting in the area becoming flooded.

At Nizam Zachman port, retainer walls were also built in anticipation of the floods, Bambang said.

However, due to limited funds, the port authority had not been able to complete all of the necessary walls, he said.

"We haven't finished building the walls. As a result, sea water enters and inundates the port. We have to wait for more funding next year to complete the project," he said.

He said plans were also in place to raise the height of the road entering the port by 1.2 meters next year.