After a year, yet another frustrating story about tsunami aid. Saiful

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailweekly.asp?fileid=20060111.@02

January 11, 2006
Red-tape wrangle holds up tsunami aid

Hera Diani and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan

After nine months of frustration in trying to claim a container filled
with tsunami relief supplies at Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta, the
Sampoerna Foundation gave up.

First, there was the storage fee at the seaport -- which eventually
reached a whopping Rp 50 million (around US$5,263) -- plus the Rp 10
million needed to deliver the container to Aceh, as well as another
container handling fee of 500 euros.

Secondly, the aid -- mostly clothes, blankets and mattresses shipped
by a Dutch donor -- was no longer needed by the victims more than a
year after the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster.

The foundation, which is primarily focused on disbursing educational
scholarships nationwide, declared it was unable to foot the bill,
except for the 500 euros.

"We feel it's now irrelevant to send the aid anyway," the marketing
and communications director of Sampoerna Foundation, Sapto Handoyo
Sakti, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The foundation assigned courier and cargo company Mondo Express to
arrange custom clearance. Despite clearance documents from several
related departments and institutions, including the Directorate
General of Taxation as the body assigned to channel aid to Aceh,
another permit was required from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

A host of other clearance documents was also needed from the Ministry
of Social Affairs, Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare and the
National Disaster Management Body (Bakornas).

By the time all the documents were received in November, the storage
fee had ballooned.

Sampoerna Foundation communications officer Hendri Budi Satrio noted
there were no such problems in overseas aid sent by air.

"It may not be all the port's mistake, because they (port authorities)
also fear that many parties are taking advantage of the situation and
trying to send goods through the port for free," Hendri told the Post.

Ferry Ariansyah of Mondo Express said about 217 containers of tsunami
aid, including ambulances, remained at the port due to the high
storage fees.

In Medan, containers of tsunami aid from donor countries are
languishing at Belawan Port due to various reasons, including lack of
funds to claim them and inadequate documentation.

Over 232 containers of basic needs and 58 of vehicles are stuck at the
port even as other aid supplies arrive, Belawan custom office's
coordinator for intelligence and investigation services Muhammad Rusdi
said.

"We're worried that the aid will be useless or damaged if it's stuck
here too long," said Rusdi.

Donors from New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, Switzerland, Britain and
Singapore have sent aid through the Medan port as of January, he said.