Construction firm PT Ilthabi Rekatama, owned by former president BJ Habibie'€™s son Ilham Habibie, has decided to temporarily halt the construction of an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Hang Nadim International Airport in Batam, Riau Islands.

The postponement is reportedly the result of financial problems hitting Ilthabi Rekatama'€™s business partners from the Middle East, a region that has been in turmoil for some years.

The Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BPK FTZ), however, is urging Ilthabi Rekatama not to delay its use of a 62-hectare plot of land allocated for the company to build an MRO facility in 2013, as MRO facility construction companies from Singapore and South Korea are also interested in building a facility in Batam.

In an interview in Batam on Saturday, Ilthabi Rekatama CEO Ilham toldthejakartapost.com that the company was forced to delay the construction of the MRO facility at Hang Nadim airport in light of the ongoing Middle East crisis, which was multidimensional in nature. Turmoil affecting several Middle Eastern countries had affected the capacity of investors that had agreed to partner with Ilthabi Rekatama to build the MRO facility in Batam, explained.

'€œ[The continuation of the project] will depend on the readiness of our investors from the Middle East, which is currently in crisis. That'€™s why it'€™s taking so long for the project to be realized. But we are continuing to work with them. We will wait until they are ready,'€ said Ilham. He refused to disclose the identities of Ilthabi Rekatama'€™s partner companies.

On April 10, 2013, the Batam BPK FTZ and Ilthabi Rekatama, via PT Indonesia Aero Maintenance, signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on the construction of an MRO. Ilthabi was planned to become the second company to build an MRO facility at Hang Nadim after Indonesia'€™s largest low-cost carrier, Lion Air, which constructed a Rp 3 trillion (US$218.82 million) MRO facility at the airport.

Batam BPK FTZ marketing and public relations director Andiantono Purnomo told thejakartapost.com that the authority had set a deadline for the Habibie family company to use the allocated land.

'€œIf it takes too long for the company to use the land, we will revoke our permit because a number of investors from other countries, such as South Korea and Singapore, are interested in developing an MRO industry in Batam. Land here is very limited,'€ said Andiantono.

The BPK FTZ is hoping to see between six and eight MRO companies set up at Hang Nadim airport, which has a 4,025-meter-long runway able to accommodate super jumbo aircraft, such as the Airbus A380. (ebf)(+)

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