Indonesia : INDONESIAN Largest Port Project to gather speed now [TendersInfo (India)]

Al Bawaba Ltd.

The Pelindo II has been successful to obtain nods on the environmental impact assessment (Amdal) review from the Government on 22nd December for building the biggest Indonesian port in North Jakarta.

The Environmental Ministry s Amdal approval will facilitate the firm to begin construction on Kalibaru Port, which is famous as New Tanjung Priok Port, in 2013. The state-owned port company is also recognized as the Indonesian Port Corporation (IPC).

We had been waiting for the Amdal document for months. After finally obtaining it all the necessary documents are now complete. We are ready to begin the port s infrastructure works, stated IPC President Director - Richard Joost Lino.

According to him, the project s sluggish move was partially due to the Environmental Ministry s delay in issuing the Amdal approval, although the port got a presidential decree in April this year, plus a construction sanction from the Transportation Ministry in June. He added, We could have begun the project when we secured the presidential decree and construction permit. But, the Amdal is a very important entity in any project, particularly a giant project such as this.

The firm hopes the project will be started by the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in next month.

Richard has stated that the construction of the 7km toll road between Marunda Logistics Park and Kalibaru Port including an elevated 4-kilometer passage over the sea will start in the next year as well.

IPC inked a MoU with state-run highway firm PT Jasa Marga and PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara (KBN) in this September for the development of the project. Richard has revealed that the toll road is likely to be completed by the last part of 2014, when Kalibaru Port s Terminal 1 will begin operations.

The company s recent tender for managing the 1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) terminal received offers from 3 top global shipping lines, which are Mitsui, APM Terminals and International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI).

Richard has stated that the name of the winner is likely to be revealed by January end to facilitate signing of the memorandum of agreement with the winner in February. He stated, It is very important to work with international lines because we plan to bring in large vessels to the port to cut logistics costs. Richard has added that Kalibaru will be capable to hold vessels with over 10,000 TEUs.

Kalibaru Port will be built in 3 stages and it will have capacity of 13 million TEUs of Rp 23 trillion (US$2.36 billion). The Phase I will see development of 3 container terminals with 4.5 million TEUs capacity and is likely to be finished by the end of 2015 to handle clogging at the present Tanjung Port.

The container traffic in the busiest Indonesian port has touched the figure of 7 million TEUs now, compared to 5.5 million TEUs in last year.