he government will relocate the Cilamaya port project to Patimban in Subang, West Java on account of risks to existing infrastructure, a top official has said.
"The construction is expected to kick off in 2017 and the first phase of the construction will be completed in 2019," Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said at the State Palace on Monday.
The government plans to build a deep sea port in Cilamaya, West Java. However, since the development might put the existing gas network nearby at risk, the government has decided to relocate the port site.
The Transportation Ministry has conducted feasibility studies assessing six locations in the north coast of West Java and concluded that the Patimban area was the best possible alternative location.
Transportation Minister Ignasius Jonan said that the planned Patimban Port, with a capacity of 7.5 million twenty-feet equivalent units (TEUS) and the capability of accommodating 250,000 cars, would need a mammoth investment of Rp 40 trillion (US$3.2 billion).
"In the first phase of construction, the port will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEUS from the planned 7.5 million TEUS," he said.
During a limited Cabinet meeting on the Patimbang project, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo revealed that the government would also build a large port somewhere in Java to ease the burden of old and overcrowded ports, such as Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, Tanjung Mas in Semarang, Central Java and Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, East Java in addition to the development of new seaports in the eastern part of the country.
"We need a large port in the north coast area of Java to boost transportation efficiency and smoothen logistics. We expect to develop a port with a capacity of approximately 7.5 million TEUS by 2037," Jokowi said, adding that the presence of the new port could cut distribution channels and logistics costs. (dmr)
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