The Indonesian government has ordered a study on how to speed up construction work on the overdue Cilamaya seaport project in Karawang, West Java, which had been scheduled to open in 2017.
Barring its progress are the gas and oil pipelines of national energy company Pertamina, since dismantling them would cut off energy supply to nearby industrial areas and the Greater Jakarta area, local reports said.
The study team has been tasked to propose solutions to clear the way for the port development, envisioned to reduce traffic at the congested Tanjung Priok port in north Jakarta, the country’s busiest port which has already reached its capacity.
The Indonesian National Shipowners ‘ Association (Insa) has expressed support for the Cilamaya seaport project. Insa chair Carmelita Hartoto earlier said its construction would support national logistics since it not only would reduce congestion at the Port of Tanjung Priok, it would also “create competition in port services, so as to give a positive impact on tariffs and service quality.”
The Cilamaya port development is part of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development 2011-2025. It will consist of a container terminal and a car terminal with various basic land and water facilities as well as supporting facilities to accommodate ultra-large container ships of up to 13,000 TEUs in capacity. There will also be a 30-kilometer access road linking the port to existing toll roads.
The infrastructure project will have a total construction cost of IDR34.5 trillion (US$3 billion), and will be carried out in two stages. In the first stage will be the building of the container terminal (with a capacity of 3.75 million TEUs), the car terminal, a state vessel dock, a fuel dock, a RO-RO ship terminal, and a ship line.
The second stage will see the erection of an access road and a bridge, and installation of support facilities as well as loading and unloading equipment.
Photo: Yan Arief Purwanto
