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Bengkulu set to build new airport
The Bengkulu governor was in Jakarta on Monday to request Rp 8
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he Bengkulu governor was in Jakarta on Monday to request Rp 8.5 trillion (US$697 million) to finance vital infrastructure projects in the province, including the relocation of the overloaded Fatmawati Soekarno Airport.
'Good infrastructure is vital for Bengkulu because this province is prone to earthquakes,' he said after meeting with the President at the State Palace in Jakarta.
Other projects to be financed by the central government include the renovation of the Bengkulu-Lubuk Linggau highway, the construction of a clean water system, an evacuation hospital and the Bengkulu-Muara Enim railway, Bengkulu Governor Junaidi Hamsyah told a press conference.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the airport's relocation, Junaidi said, would be signed on the sidelines of National Press Day celebrations in Bengkulu, next month.
'We plan to move the airport to the area currently controlled by [state-owned PT Perkebunan Nusantara] PTPN VII, which is about 20 kilometers from the current airport,' he said.
The only daily flight Fatmawati Soekarno Airport serves is Bengkulu-Jakarta.
The Transportation Ministry previously said it was seeking public private partnerships (PPPs) for 10 airports operated by the ministry's technical management unit (UPT), including Fatmawati Soekarno Airport, Tjilik Riwut Airport in Central Kalimantan, Komodo Airport in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Sentani Airport in Papua.
These airports, according to the ministry, see a high number of passengers as they link to tourism destinations and mining centers.
Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said the ministry was collaborating with the Finance Ministry and the Indonesia Infrastructure Fund (IIF), a private non-banking financial institution under the Finance Ministry, to push the projects forward.
