TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo has repeatedly expressed his idea to optimize maritime resources to boost revenues from the sector. To achieve the goal, he plans to develop sea transportation routes massively by, among others, building sea toll.

Yose Rizal, economic observer at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said Jokowi—a portmanteau of the president's name he is known as—must focus on three things before moving forward with the sea toll plan.

For starters, Yose said, the state needs to efficiate maritime resources such as geographical position and national marine condition. "This has been done by Indonesia, but not to its optimum potentials," Yose told Tempo.

The second is to develop necessary maritime infrastructure. According to Yose, the development of new sea ports and maritime services which include vessels, warehouses and maritime industry are crucial in improving the naval sector as a whole.

Lastly, the government needs to prepare adequate monitoring system, which is related to procurement of new seaport facilities, sea transportation regulation, and development of monitoring tools. "Just like how things work in the control tower for aviation traffic,” he said.

Once these three elements are available, Yose believes Jokowi's goal to optimize Indonesia's maritime resources is achievable, especially since the president also plans to build 24 new sea ports in Indonesia's major islands in the next five years.

AISHA SHAIDRA