Major Port a New Priority for Indonesia

The Jakarta Globe

The Ministry of Transportation on Monday admitted its efforts to develop a much-needed international-standard port were progressing slowly.

Sunaryo, director general of maritime transportation at the ministry, said formulating a blueprint for an international-quality seaport was one of Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi’s priorities for his first 100 days in office, although none of the country’s seaports had yet shown the potential to become a regional hub for cargo vessels.

“We are trying to determine which port can be turned into an international hub,” Sunaryo said after opening a two-day seminar entitled “Jakarta as Indonesia’s Hub Port.” The seminar was organized by state-owned seaport operator PT Pelindo II in Jakarta.

“We still haven’t figured out where we should build it,” he said.

Pelindo II is pushing for Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, which it says can be expanded into an international hub with renovations that would cost upwards of Rp 7 trillion ($735 million).

Currently, cargo shipments to Indonesia must stop in either Singapore or Malaysia before being delivered using smaller feeder vessels.

Although Sunaryo hinted that it was most likely the international hub would be developed in Jakarta or Batam, existing ports did not meet the requirements for a variety of reasons, including the fact the water was not deep enough for big ships to dock.

“The depth of sea water at Tanjung Priok, for example, is only 11 meters,” he said. “It can only handle cargo ships of less than 60,000 tons.”

Pelindo II president director R J Lino said that with renovations, Tanjung Priok could be ready to operate as an international hub by 2014.

“Tanjung Priok has one of the most strategic locations within the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

However, Sunaryo said the Tanjung Priok port’s location was also a problem because getting feeder transport in and out of the port area was difficult.

“It’s useless having a huge port if there is no easy access,” he said.

He said that if there was no integrated mass transportation service, the volume of cargo being delivered by trucks would significantly worsen the already poor traffic conditions in the capital.