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Jakarta Post

Discourse: Transportation sector: Coping with the distribution bottleneck

In a vast country such as Indonesia, the improvement of transportation facilities should be an integral part of economic development

The Jakarta Post
Mon, April 2, 2012

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Discourse: Transportation sector: Coping with the distribution bottleneck

I

em>In a vast country such as Indonesia, the improvement of transportation facilities should be an integral part of economic development.

For the most part, transportation facilities in the country are still considered poor, particulary outside Java, further widening the economic gaps between one region to another, especially in eastern Indonesia.

Development observers say that the poor condition of the country’s transportation facilities has been partly caused by a lack of government committment to solving such problems.

The Jakarta Post’s Nurfika Osman recently talked to Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono to find out the governemnt’s agenda on improving transportation infrastructure in the country. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Poor transportation conditions remain a major problem for Indonesia’s economic development. What is the government’s ongoing program to solve the problems?

Let me start with the railway projects. The project that should be finished in the next two years is the Trans-Java railways along the northern coastal highways (Pantura). This project is very important because 60 percent of Java’s economic strength lies in the highways that connect two business activity centers; Jakarta and Surabaya.
Jakarta is the center of the country’s economic activity, while Surabaya connects economic activity moving toward eastern Indonesia.

The second railway project that should be finished is the commuter-line airport railway that will link Jakarta to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng. We need this commuter-line train, not only to reduce highway congestion, but also to support the Manggarai-Soekarno Hatta express train that is currently being studied by state infrastructure financing company PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur.

We are very optimistic that this project will be finished in early 2013 and it could operate in April or May 2013, because the express train is going to be offered for tender next year and construction is set to begin in 2014. It takes time to construct the express train because we are implementing the Public Private Partnership (PPP) plan, where companies need to secure financial closure.

Railway projects that should also be finished include the Kuala Namu Airport train in North Sumatra, which will connect Medan to the new airport. It is a 28-kilometer railway project: 23 kilometers connecting Medan to Araskabu and 5 kilometers connecting Araskabu to the airport. Land acquisition has been done and the train is going to operate in early 2013, at the same time when we commence airport operations. Travelers from Medan will arrive at the airport within 30 minutes.

Both state airport operators, Angkasa Pura 1 and Angkasa Pura 2, are currently developing their airports.

Bali’s new Ngurah Rai terminal and parking facilities will be finished in early 2013 because Bali will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in that year.

Juanda’s terminal renovation in Surabaya will also be finished next year.

Moreover, Angkasa Pura is expanding airports in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands; Pontianak, West Kalimantan; Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; Tanjung Pandan in Bangka Belitung, and so on.

Angkasa Pura 2 will start the expansion of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport this year as well, because it is operating beyond its intended capacity. Its total capacity was only to cater to 22 million passengers, but now the number of travelers has reached 51 million.

Regarding sea transportation, we are going to have the Kalibaru terminal, or the New Priok, that will help ease container traffic in Tanjung Priok port, which is currently facing severe capacity problems.

The construction of the first stage of the New Priok port, with a total capacity of 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), will begin this year and is expected to commence operations in 2014. State port operator Pelindo II will receive the presidential decree to start the tender process within one month. The decree has just been handed to the President.

What is Indonesia’s best intermode connectivity model to boost the economy and reduce the logistic costs at the same time?

As an archipelagic nation, a combination of sea transportation with land transport will help the growth of Indonesian economy and reduce logistic costs. Besides developing the New Priok port, we have to develop the Cikarang Dry Port to help ease congestion at the Tanjung Priok port. Therefore, containers from the Cikarang Dry Port can be transported by train to the Priok port.

Thus, connecting the two ports through railways is very important because it will help distribution from the west to the east. This is the best model for our archipelagic country and we are getting there.

The same model is going to be applied across the country in the future, especially in regions, predominantly spread out from the islands, such as in Sulawesi and Maluku.

What are some other projects that will be constructed in the near future to help the economy and shape strong connectivity between one region and another?

We are going to construct double-track railways in the southern part of Java by using the state budget (APBN). So, we will have strong inter-island connectivity in Java; both in the north and the south.

We are now accelerating the Cirebon – Kroya section, which is expected to be finished this year, while the Kroya – Kutoharjo double tracks will commence development this year. There is also further development of plying tracks from Cirebon to Prupuk.

In addition, the railway for the Solo – Madiun – Surabaya route is currently under technical planning, for which land clearance processes will be kicked off in 2013.

State port operator Pelindo I and Pelindo II are also developing their existing ports, such as Kuala Tanjung in Medan, Batam in Riau Islands, Maloi in Kalimantan, Pare Pare in South Sulawesi and Bitung in North Sulawesi.

One of the most important sea projects is the Sorong Port in West Papua, which will help reduce logistics costs in the region and shape a maritime strong point in the east.

We have to create many ink spots to develop this archipelagic country.

How is the implementation program of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economy (MP3EI) in the transportation sector so far?

There are 36 MP3EI transportation projects that are going to be finished by the end of 2014 with a total investment of Rp 64 trillion (US $6.97 billion). In 2012 alone, there are 24 MP3EI projects that will have groundbreaking activities this year, such as the development and expansion of Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the New Priok Port, and the development of the north – south mass rapid transit (MRT) in Jakarta.

In total, there are 131 MP3EI transportation projects within a 15-year period, 2011 to 2025, amounting Rp 475 trillion.

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