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Central Java most ready to set up timber terminal
Central Java is the best-equipped province to establish a timber terminal, says Industry Minister Fahmi Idris
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Central Java is the best-equipped province to establish a timber terminal, says Industry Minister Fahmi Idris.
"It only needs to decide the state enterprise managing it, and to wait for approval from the local legis-lature," Fahmi said recently in Semarang.
The proposed terminal was projected to be set up in 2008, but was delayed a year. Fahmi said he expected the country's first timber terminal to come into being in the last quarter of this year in Kendal regency.
He added the construction of the terminal in Central Java was expected to run smoothly thanks to an agreement between the regency and provincial administrations on the aspects of location, machinery and buildings.
The construction of the terminal in Kendal was planned five years ago, but was put on hold due to financial constraints. The Kendal regency administration has provided a 2.5-hectare plot of land near the Kendal ring road for the project. The Central Java provincial administration will cover the construction costs, while the Industry Ministry will provide the machinery.
Fahmi said the terminal would ideally be managed by a provincial administration-owned enterprise (BUMD). The Kendal administration has yet to establish such an entity and is being urged to form one soon.
Based on initial plans, such a timber terminal was meant to be established in Central Java, East Java, West Java, Papua or Sulawesi. It will facilitate the transportation and distribution of timber supplies from production areas to industrial zones. It is also expected to cut existing overhead by up to 15 percent because the timber will be sold directly to manufacturers.
The Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) says the establishment of the terminal will help curb illegal logging. The timber export value from wood-based products in 2008 amounted to US$2.87 billion.
The figure represents an 8.17 percent drop from the 2007 figure of $3.12 billion.
