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tate-owned port operator PT Pelindo II, also known as the Indonesia Port Corporation (IPC), is asking for a presidential decree to speed up construction of the anticipated Sorong Port in West Papua.

President director Richard Joost Lino said IPC and Sorong regency government had already sent a request to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The project has stalled due to land acquisition problems.

“Construction of the Sorong Port is urgent because it will play a very important role in cutting the cost of logistics in the east [of Indonesia]. We need to start construction as soon as possible otherwise we will lose momentum,” Lino told The Jakarta Post recently.

The presidential decree could be issued in the first quarter of 2013 it would mean they could immediately get started on the project, Lino said.

The construction should have started in the fourth quarter of 2012 but problems with land acquisition have caused delays. The new port was set to be built on land belonging to indigenous people.

He said it was not easy to convince local people that the project would benefit them.

“I am optimistic that we can start by the end of 2013 at the latest and finish it by the end of 2014 because our team keeps continues [to acquire the land] in Sorong,” he said.

The port will be built on a 7,500 hectare plot of land, leaving the possibility for future expansion. In the first phase, the port will have a total capacity of 500,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

IPC, which is working with PT Pelindo IV, and five shipping firms — PT Samudera Indonesia, PT Meratus Line, PT Salam Pacific Indonesia Line, PT Tanto Intim Line and PT Tempuran Mas — is committed to spending Rp 1 trillion (US$104 million) on the port.

The port has been designated as a regional hub, linking the regency with other parts of the archipelago including Jayapura, Papua; Bitung, North Sulawesi; Surabaya, East Java; and Jakarta, as well as neighboring countries Papua New Guinea and Australia. It is expected to cut logistic costs in the region by up to 50 percent.

The delay of Sorong Port will have a huge impact on the Pendulum Nusantara, the country’s main sea corridor assigned by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan in mid 2012. PT Pete Kamas Indonesia, a subsidiary of Pelindo, will operate in six ports to boost container business and reduce the logistics cost. Pendulum Nusantara was expected to start in 2014 but will be delayed if the Sorong Port project does not start immediately.

IPC plans to construct a new port in West Kalimantan because it is impossible to expand the existing Pontianak Port that has been operating overcapacity.

“We are conducting a feasibility study for the new port. Hopefully, we can get going before the end
of 2013,” Lino continued, adding that the port would be on Kijing islet, some 20-kilometer from Pontianak, with a planned total capacity of between 200,000 to 300,000 TEUs.