MARINE INFRASTRUCTURE: Four Ports Commence Operations in 2018

July 4, 2015, Bisnis Indonesia, Page 10, Section: Regional

BANDUNG – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Indroyono Soesilo, has made an estimate that four out of 24 projects that are in the process of construction and revitalisation will become operational in 2018.

He stated that the government has announced the construction and revitalisation of 24 ports in an effort to support the marine highway [programme], where five of the 24 ports constitute deep see ports or large container ports.

The five ports being referred to are Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Teluk Lamong [Lamong Bay] in Surabaya, Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatera, Makassar New Port in Makassar and Sorong Port in West Papua.

“Of the five ports, four are being built, and Insya Allah [God willing], all four of them will be ready in 2018,” he said, when met at the Commemoration of 95 Years of Engineering Higher Education at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Friday (3 July).

He continued, saying that the construction of the Port of Sorong has currently entered the stage of design evaluation, because the design of the large port being built in West Papua was just finished last week.

In the design that has been prepared, the five major container ports are integrated with new industrial zones in order to ensure the availability of cargo and to streamline the national logistics system.

Asked about the needed investment funds to be issued by the government for the construction of the five ports, Indroyono was reluctant to mention a figure because he claimed to have forgotten the detailed amount.

“The costs of the four ports are met in a business to business manner. Thus, the budget comes from Pelindo, from ​​each port with all kinds of banking concessions; so no State Budget (APBN) funds are used. That is what has happened until now,” he said.

He sees the business to business (B to B) financing concept as a proper scheme. “Clearly this is good; it means the company PT Pelindo is running, credible, bonafide.”

PT Pelindo IV previously made an announcement about the investment funds of Rp 3.17 trillion, for the development and revitalisation of nine ports under the company’s management in eastern Indonesia.

Pelindo IV’s ports being revitalised include the Port of Kendari, the Port of Tarakan, Port of Ambon, Ternate Port, Port of Jayapura, Merauke Port, Port of Manokwari, Bitung Port, and the Port of Sorong, which is in the deep see port category.

With regard to funding sources, the revitalisation funds will come from internal cash amounting to Rp 1.17 trillion and Rp 2 trillion from the state capital participation (PMN).

The funds sourced from the company’s internal cash and allocation from the central government will be released in stages from 2015 to 2018, in accordance with the port development plans.

Indroyono said that those infrastructure construction costs to be funded by APBN can be seen from the budgets of the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Public Works and People’s housing (PU-Pera), which has large budget allocations.

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