"To realize the development project we will invite commerce shipping companies," the company`s president director, RJ Lino, said here on Tuesday.
He said five companies that would be involved in the project are PT Samudera Indonesia Tbk., P Tempuran Emas Tbk. (Temas), PT Salam Pacific Indonesia Line (SPIL) and PT Meratus.
A 3,000 to 10,000 hectares of land has been made available for the project but for the initial stage with the Rp1 trillion budget only a port with a 500 meter long pier and a 18 cranes facility with a 750,000 TEUs total capacity container terminal will be built.
Lino said the bidding would be conducted before the end of 2011, followed by construction in 2012 and operation in 2013.
He said the West Pacific Port is expected to be the biggest container port in the Indonesian eastern region.
"The port will connect distribution links from and to the Pacific region such as Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Cairns Island, Darwin (Australia), New Zealand and Timor Leste," he said.
In terms of location the port is very strategic because it is located in the equator passed by ships from China, Japan and South Korea.
"The port and container terminal that will be built will serve as a new alternative for companies in eastern Indonesian regions that have so far shipped their goods abroad through Jakarta`s Tanjung Priok," he said.
He said logistics cost of shipping goods abroad from Makassar (South Sulawesi) through West Pacific Port would be cheaper up to around 60 percent than from Tanjung Priok.
Regarding the financing he said Pelindo has prepared around Rp300 billion from the company`s internal funds or around 30 percent of the total cost and expects the rest to be met by the consortium. ***5***
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(T.SYS/B/H-YH/A/O001) 26-07-2011 16:09:18
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
