She sends her copra using the Sabuk Nusantara 69, 70 and 95 pioneer ships, which take turns docking at Miangas every two weeks. She pays about Rp 2.1 million to transport 10 tons of copra.
By
Kristian Oka P & Frans Pati Herin
·5 minutes read
Nelly Loeppa, 52, sat at the verandah of her house of Miangas Island, Talaud Islands, North Sulawesi. With a big purse filled with hundreds of bank notes in her hand, the copra businesswoman is ready to welcome profit.
An aged man riding a scooter arrived at Nelly’s house. He was bringing two sacks of dried coconut meat. Nelly’s niece Mei, 20, picked up the sacks and put them on a hanging scale one by one. “Rp 296,000 [US$20.76],” Mei said.
Nelly gave the corresponding amount in bank notes to the aged man. That Thursday afternoon (5/3/2020), Nelly acquired 74 kilograms of copra, which was then stored alongside the more than six tons of copra in the warehouse beside her house. The warehouse kept all the copra Miangas people had sold to her in the past two months.
“I adjust my buying price with that from the copra buyer in Bitung. If the price from there is Rp 6,500 per kg, I buy the copra for Rp 4,000 per kg from locals,” Nelly said.
The distance of more than 550 kilometers between Miangas and Bitung is not a problem. Buyers in Bitung routinely inform Nelly of the prevailing price and ask her about her copra stocks.
Nelly, who also serves as Miangas’ district secretary, last sent 10 tons of copra that she gathered for three months. She gained a total of Rp 67 million from it. She receives purchase receipts on WhatsApp.
She sends her copra using the Sabuk Nusantara 69, 70 and 95 pioneer ships, which take turns docking at Miangas every two weeks. She pays about Rp 2.1 million to transport 10 tons of copra. For loading and unloading, Nelly pays five stevedores Rp 150,000 each.
Despite managing the biggest copra business in Miangas, Nelly said that the amount of copra that she sold was not much. The 3.2-square-kilometer Miangas Island has coconut trees all over. However, there is only a handful of copra businesspeople on the island and they cannot sell copra every month.
Nelly has never used the sea toll container ship service to send her copra, despite Miangas’ connection to Bitung in the T-5 route that also goes through Tagulandang/Ulu Siau (Sitaro), Tahuna (Sangihe) and Melonguane/Lirung (Talaud). The Kendhaga Nusantara I ship that serves the route has a capacity for 90 20-foot containers.
“I will suffer a loss if I rent containers, as I don’t transport that much copra. Renting containers is so expensive,” she said. Renting one container from Miangas to Bitung will set her back Rp 4.2 million, twice the transport fee Nelly pays for 10 tons of copra.
On the other hand, not many local businesspeople understand the procedure to send goods using containers.
\'On the other hand, not many local businesspeople understand the procedure to send goods using containers. “Last year, the sea toll ship docked here. We asked the officer whether it is possible to load our goods immediately. The officer said that it was not possible as we should have booked the service first. We will not understand how to use the service if no one explains it to us,” Nelly said.
Since then, the Kendhaga Nusantara I ship has yet to dock in Miangas again. The Transportation Ministry reported that the ship has completed one trip with nine containers. The ship has not stopped at Miangas again, but this is not a problem for Miangas’ businesspeople as the Sabuk Nusantara 69, 70 and 95 ships meet their needs.
Talaud Islands industry and trade agency head Habel Salombe said that the sea toll ship could not serve people on Miangas Island as the local port was inadequate. The water is shallow and there are no forklifts there.
“The Kendhaga Nusantara I ship can only dock at the Melonguane and Lirung ports in Talaud. The port in Miangas is inadequate. I have sent a letter to the Transportation Ministry to get them to see the port for themselves,” Habel said.
Return load
A contrasting situation can be found on Morotai Island, North Maluku. The sea toll ships’ return loads from Morotai to Surabaya, East Java, have contributed to an increase of the price of copra, a mainstay product among locals. Local copra farmers breathe a sigh of relief every time they find people from Surabaya buying their products.
In late 2019, copra prices went up to Rp 6,000 per kg after plummeting to Rp 2,000 per kg. Copra buyers went directly to copra production centers. “The high price was because no middlemen were involved and cheaper transport costs,” said Bahdin Danodasin, who manages an expedition service at Daruba Port, Morotai.
To transport one container of 25 tons of copra from Morotai to Surabaya, locals need to pay Rp 3.5 million. Even with additional fees for freight workers, the total transport cost is still 40 percent lower than that of commercial services.
Morotai is a frontier island that borders on the Philippines. Sea toll ships have reached Morotai since 2017. From Java, the ships carry staples and other needs proposed by the local administration.
Morotai Pacific University fisheries lecturer Supriono Ahmad said that the sea toll program still needed much improvement. In several regions, the programs only benefit businesspeople and cannot resolve price disparities at the consumer level. However, there are good opportunities in the sea toll program and it must be used to boost regional economies.
While Nelly operates without the sea toll program in Miangas, it has brought a new hope to Morotai.