JAKARTA (TheInsiderStories) - President Joko Widodo has decided to finally move the Rp40 trillion ($3.03 billion) seaport project from Cilamaya to Patimban in West Java as the construction work may interfere with oil and gas pipelines in and around the area.
The Patimban seaport, a two-hour drive from the Cikarang industrial complex in the eastern outskirt of Jakarta, will have a capacity of 7.5 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) by 2037, providing much-needed support for trade activities in Java and center of its manufacturing activities.
Currently, the country’s major ports such as Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya and Tanjung Mas in Semarang take in more than two thirds of Indonesia’s container traffic.
Jonan said, if approved, the development of the project will use the intergovernmental financing schemes. The construction is expected to kick off in the beginning of 2017, followed by the operational of the phase I in 2019.
“The port will have capacity to about 250,000 vehicles and also about 1.5 million TEUs,” said Jonan.
Belgium and Japan have expressed an interest to provide financing for the seaport project, said Mauritz H. Sibarani, director of seaport at the Transportation Ministry.
He added there is the possibility of funding from Japan with 0.01 percent interest. The Port Patimban will be fully owned by the government of Indonesia. (*)