Indonesia will see major transportation projects in the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Growth (MP3EI) to be completed next year.
Transportation Minister E.E. Mangindaan said in Jakarta on Monday the Kuala Namu International Airport in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, would have completed by the end of 2012.
He said that as of November this year, 84.36 percent of the construction has been finished and by the end of 2011, as progress was expected to reach 86.21 percent.
“The airport will be able to accommodate 8 million passengers,” he added.
The 90,000-square-meter airport would also be able to park 33 passenger airlines and three cargo airlines, he said.
The construction of the Rp 5 trillion (US$550 million) airport was started in 2007.
The second transportation project scheduled to be completed next year is the 844 kilometer double track Trans-Java railway project connecting Jakarta and Surabaya.
So far, the government has completed the Jakarta–Cirebon and Brebes–Pekalongan sections. The Cirebon–Brebes, Brebes–Semarang, Semarang–Bojonegoro and Bojonegoro–Pasar Turi (in Surabaya) sections will be completed by the end of next year.
“The newly passed land acquisition law will help us to accelerate the entire process of this project. We are optimistic we can execute every project easier now,” he said.
The law was passed last Friday, and by having the law, all legal proceedings pertinent to land acquisition for a government-commissioned infrastructure project should be completed within 436 working days at most.
According to deputy minister Bambang Susantono, in total the entity of MP3EI projects for transportation was Rp 814 trillion — Rp 339 trillion for roads, Rp 117 trillion for ports, Rp 32 trillion for airports and Rp 326 trillion for railway projects.
“We are also constructing a port in Sorong, West Papua, to help reduce logistics costs that will start in April next year,” Bambang said.
Mangindaan said that the construction of the Kalibaru terminal in North Jakarta would start next year and was expected to be completed by 2014.
“The Kalibaru terminal should be able to operate in 2014 in order to ease shipment of traffic to the Tanjung Priok port,” he said.
State-owned port operator PT Pelindo II has forecast that container volume at the country’s main shipment terminal, Tanjung Priok port, will increase by 20 percent next year.
By the end of this year, according to Pelindo II, container traffic is expected to reach 5.8 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), up by 23 percent from 4.7 million TEUs in 2010 and 3.7 TEUs in 2009.
Because the port’s current container volume capacity is only 5 million TEUs, Pelindo II has been mulling short-term strategies to cope with the over-capacity problem.
Among the strategies is to invest $250 million until the middle of 2012 to buy new container loading cranes comprising of two quay container cranes (QCC) and 11 luffing container cranes (LFF).
Nusantara Pura passenger port in Tanjung Priok’s renovation has just been completed, making the area more comfortable for passengers.
Nusantara Pura is now air-conditioned, has more seats for passengers, a nursery room, and a room for the disabled. It also now provides food stalls and an automated teller machine (ATM).
Richard Joost Lino, president director of Pelindo II, said that they spent Rp 14.3 billion ($1.57 million) to renovate the passenger port. (nfo)