JAKARTA: Indonesia’s state-own port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II plans to build 22 ports across the country at a total investment of over Rp50 trillion ($3.57 billion), said a senior official.
“We are targeting to build 22 ports from Belawan to Sorong within five years,” Pelindo II chief executive Richard Joost Lino told reporters on Friday. According to Lino, the company will finance the projects from internal cash and loans. As on date, the company has cash reserves of around Rp19.5 trillion from bond issuances, bank loans and internal cash flows. In May 2015, Pelindo II raised $1.6 billion and plans to raise another $1 billion from US dollar bond issuance in the end of 2016 or early 2017.
Pelindo II previously secured a $2.5-billion loan from foreign banks such as Mitsui & Co. Ltd, Deutsche Bank, ANZ, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Societe Generale and United Overseas Bank.
Recently, the company has operationalized 14 ports mostly located in western part of Indonesia. Lino said, starting this year, the company will start developing Cikarang Bekasi Laut Dry Port and Cikampek Port in West Java, Muara Jati Port in Cirebon in West Java, Bojonegoro Port in East Java, Tanjung Carat Port in South Sumatera, Kijing Port in West Kalimantan and Sorong Port in West Papua province. All the ports is expected to be completed in two years time.
Lino said, these ports, once operational, will have a capacity of around 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Now, the largest port in the country Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta province has a capacity of 5 million TEUs.
Cikarang Port will be developed on 200 hectares with docking capacity of up to five million containers per year. Later on, Cikarang Port will be connecting with Cikampek Port in West Java and Cirebon Port in Central Java.
Pelindo’s expansion programme is to support the government’s long-term plan to make the country as a maritime axis. President Joko Widodo has taken a firm stance that his administration would place a particular focus on developing the country’s maritime potential.
