President Jokowi Orders Police Chief to Combat Illegal Levies, Thuggery at Port

By Office of Assistant to Deputy Cabinet Secretary for State Documents & Translation     Date 10 Juni 2021
Category: News
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President Jokowi makes a phone call to the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo during a dialogue with container truck drivers at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT). Photo by BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Rusman

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Thursday (10/06) had a dialogue with container truck drivers at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT).

“I am glad to meet all of you this morning. I have seen complaints in social media from the drivers regarding the unloading process,” the President said.

President Jokowi said that he would like to listen to their concerns in person during the meeting with the drivers, especially regarding illegal levies.

Agung Kurniawan, a container driver, explained that container drivers often fell victims to extortion.

The statement was reaffirmed by another driver, Abdul Hakim, who said that traffic jams were the cause of the extortion.

“If the roads have no traffic congestion, the crime will disappear, Sir. Thus, the root of the problem is traffic congestion, Sir, and we seek for a solution from the the President,” he said.

Abdul Hakim also talked about a number of illegal levies in several container depots. According to him, depot employees often ask for illegal levies.

After listening to the complaints from the drivers, the President directly made a phone call to the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.

“I am in Tanjung Priok and there are many complaints from container drivers related to illegal levies at Fortune, NPCT 1, and Dwipa Container Depots. In addition, the drivers expressed their concerns about the extortion amid traffic congestion. Please resolve the complaints. That’s all,” the President said.

Responding to the President’s call, General Listyo said that he was ready to carry out the President’s order.

The President told the drivers that he would continuously monitor the progress so that the complaints could be resolved.

For the record, a tweet containing a video of a container driver had gone viral on Twitter. The driver asked President Jokowi to resolve problems in three container depots, namely Fortune, Dwipa, and New Priok Container Terminal One (NCPT 1). The driver also expressed his concerns over traffic congestion at Tanjung Priok and illegal levies at container depots. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/UN) (RI/MUR)

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