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Govt mulls over mild revision of port plan
The government mulls over making a minor change to its latest national port plan (RIPN) following its recent move to shift the status of international port hub from Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatra to Tanjung Priok in Jakarta
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he government mulls over making a minor change to its latest national port plan (RIPN) following its recent move to shift the status of international port hub from Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatra to Tanjung Priok in Jakarta.
The revision is to be made following concerns over the decline in investors’ trust, which is vital to help finance its current development.
The plan, stipulated in a 2016 Transportation Ministerial circular, noted that the transfer of the international port status to Tanjung Priok was made because Kuala Tanjung was seen as “unfit” due to a foreseen 1.31 percent surge in logistics costs. This was caused by traffic around the port and poor infrastructure.
Transportation Ministry port director Mauritz HM Sibarani recently said that it would revise the wording in the port plan as it triggered controversy.
The bad description of Kuala Tanjung is considered as potentially impacting perceptions of investors that would fund the development of the port, which is still in the first phase.
“In the long term, the international hub port is still Kuala Tanjung. But we are thinking whether or not we should revise [the regulations],” he said after a recent meeting with North Sumatra governor and state-owned port operators Pelindo I, II, III and IV.
North Sumatra governor Tengku Erry Nuradi had earlier requested the government not to replace the Kuala Tanjung position as the international port hub due to concerns that the move would erode investors’ trust and contradict previous regulations that had designated Kuala Tanjung as the country’s international port hub, including Presidential Regulation No. 26/2012 on the national logistics system (Sislognas).
“We are inviting investors, and they have shown interest because Kuala Tanjung is about to become an international hub. This ministerial circular makes investors confused,” he said.
Located in a strategic position near the Malacca Strait, Kuala Tanjung port is now being developed by Pelindo I.
The Rp 34 trillion (US$2.5 billion) port will be developed in four phases with the first phase being the construction of a multipurpose terminal, which is expected to be completed this year.
Pelindo I has developed the port along with the Netherlands-based Port of Rotterdam Authority with additional interested investors, such as Dubai based port operator DP World.
Tanjung Priok Port has long been the largest container port in Indonesia and handles almost half of the total Indonesian container volumes.
Pelindo I planning and development director Iman A. Sulaiman said the firm acknowledged the concerns of the local government regarding the investors’ trust due to the legal confusion, even though it maintained that the change was just temporary.
