Shipping ministry needed for next maritime journey

The two candidates for the 2019 presidential election have so far aired a score of plans to win the public’s vote. Unfortunately, maritime issues are hardly found both in their campaigns.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said nothing on whether the vision of global maritime axis - sometimes is also dubbed the global maritime fulcrum - will be carried on or not. This initiative was launched by Jokowi when he was running in the 2014 presidential election. It was said that one of the winning factors of the former Jakarta governor in the election was the maritime issue.

On the other hand, twice presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, the former commander of the Indonesian Army’s Special Force (Kopassus) seems to lack any maritime perspective at all.

During his campaign as the presidential candidate in 2014, he did not say much on the subject. Perhaps there were no aides briefing him on key domestic maritime problem like ailing shipping business, underpaid seafarers and so on.

Jokowi was much luckier. The nation’s top maritime minds, ranging from shipping executive, port expert and others, were behind him. They turned the former Surakarta into a “maritime man” with a to transform Indonesia into a global maritime axis. Additionally, they also rebranded the so called Nusantara (archipelago) pendulum, a ready-to-implement the tol laut (maritime highway) during President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration.

However, some of those experts may have been disappointed with the implementation of the president’s maritime vision. The maritime highway is considered to have deviating from its initial design. As disclosed by a prominent economist who was a part of the earlier campaign team, it was basically plotted as a subsidy-free program.

In fact, since its launching in 2015, maritime highway has been absorbing Rp300 billion (US$20.6 million) in subsidy annually.

What we have now are two candidates with inadequate maritime vision for their match in the 2019 presidential election. As the world’s biggest archipelago state whose territory is covered by water, Indonesia is supposed to be a national leader with at least a strong maritime commitment. This was reflected in the policies of formers President Sukarno, Soeharto, Habibie, Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid and Yudhoyono.

However, they had not executed the plans. In the case of the Patimban Port, the first phase required Rp 17.16 trillion, of which Rp 14.17 trillion will be borrowed from Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This is the biggest government-to-government loan in developing maritime infrastructure. Usually, port construction is handled by the state-owned port company Pelindo under a business-to-business scheme.

Now, what is the maritime platform that maybe adopted by Jokowi and Prabowo?

Whoever wins the presidency, a new post is urgent in the 2019-2024 ministerial Cabinet: the shipping ministry. Isn’t the sector already handled by the transportation ministry with its directorate general of sea transportation?

Sure; but the bureaucratic model is totally obsolete in the ever-changing maritime domain. When Jokowi announced his cabinet line-up, the domestic maritime community expected him to appoint a minister with maritime portfolio.

Instead, the President established the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs, a non-portofolio post; with all the executing powers in the hands of the ministries under its supervision. This means Jokowi’s maritime vision is being carried out by the existing agencies. Yet those ministries have their own programs as predescribed by various rules, from the Constitution to presidential decrees. The Transportation Ministry, for example, mainly focuses on programs or policies on how to develop better land, air and sea transportation.

Shipping  is hence a small portion within the Transportation Ministry governed only by a directorate-level unit. In Vietnam, a minister is assigned to oversees the sector.

Slowly but sure, the country’s shipping has become bullish, as indicated in the World Bank’s 2018 Logistics Performance Index (LPI). Vietnam is ranked at 39th with an LPI score is 3.27. India also has a minister in charge of shipping management.

Indonesia needs to follow suit in organizing its shipping sector as the existing system has continuously damaged the country’s balance of payment. A larger part of the current account deficit is partly due to the use of foreign ships in the shipment of the country’s exports and imports.

Nearly 90% of shipments are controlled by foreign shipping companies. Meanwhile, in logistical indicators, Indonesia is ranked at 46th and its LPI score is 3.15. So, the next Indonesian president, whoever he is, should embrace maritime awareness; and the establishment of a shipping ministry is a way to materialize it.

Diterbitkan dalam harian The Jakarta Post, 16 Januari 2019