"I hope this port strengthens the economy, in Belitung particularly ..."Pangkalpinang (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) plans to issue a policy to boost the price of tin, rubber and palm oil that has so far dropped very steeply.
"We will see the real condition in the field to find what kind of a policy is needed to make the price of the commodities to rise again," he said after conducting a Tarawih prayers at Soeprapto Soeparno Mosque after breaking fast here on Saturday evening (June 20).
He said that not only the price of tin that had declined but also rubber, palm oil and others.
"The price of tin drops from 24 to 14 or almost by half making people difficult to cover operational costs," he said.
In view of that he said had visited the province of Bangka-Belitung, which is the countrys tin producing region, to see in person what the tin situation in the region is like.
"It is the drop of the price of the commodity that we would discuss so that the policy that we would make later could boost the prices of various commodities," he said.
On Sunday the President Jokowi is scheduled to visit a tin smelter plant in Ketapang, Pangkalpinang, before returning to Jakarta.
President Jokowi inaugurated the Port of Tanjung Batu, located in Belitung District, Bangka Belitung Province, on Saturday.
"I hope this port strengthens the economy, in Belitung particularly, and also opens wider access to this area and allowing this location to become a tourism destination," the president said.
The inauguration was also attended by Transportation Minister Ignatius Jonan, Economy Coordinating Minister Sofyan Djalil, Health Minister Nila Moeloek, Industry Minister Saleh Husin, Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Frangky Sibarani and Governor of Bangka Beliting Rustam Effendi.
The seaport, with a land area of three hectares, was built from 2004 until 2014 at a cost of Rp47,31 billion.
The port has a passenger terminal, general cargo, coal, and container terminals, as well as a special terminal for handling crude palm oil.
The passenger terminal has an area of 304 square meters and a dock measuring 120x60 square meters, which can handle ships up to 6,000 deadweight tonnes.
The port is in a strategic position, as it is located close to the Indonesian archipelagic sea lanes (ALKI) 1.
ALKI 1 crosses the South China Sea, Karimata Strait, Java Sea, and Sunda Strait.
The port is directly adjacent to the South China Sea to the north, Java Sea in the south and the Gaspar Strait in the west.
(Reporting by Aprionis/Uu.H-YH)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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