Senong to build US$500m railroad in E. Kalimantan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Local company PT Senong Corporindo plans to
\nbuild a US$500 million railroad network in East Kalimantan to
\ntransport coal and forest products around the province, the
\ncompany said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Company president HA Samad Senong said the company would first
\nbuild a 120-kilometer track connecting the coal port of Tanjung
\nBatu in Balikpapan to Samarinda.<\/p>\n
He said the railroad would be used to transport coal, plywood
\nand agroindustry products produced by companies operating in the
\nnearby areas.<\/p>\n
In the second stage, the company is to build another 130-km
\nline linking Balikpapan to coal mining operations in Central
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"The total project will need an investment of US$500 million,
\nincluding $264 million for the development of the railroad
\nnetwork linking Balikpapan and Samarinda,\" Samad said.<\/p>\n
The company said it would begin 18 months of engineering and
\nbasic designs and market analysis this month and the construction
\nof the Balikpapan-Samarinda railroad was scheduled for completion
\nin 2003.<\/p>\n
\"We hope our economy will recover by 2003 and the project will
\nbe the backbone of the economy in East Kalimantan,\" company
\ndirector Lucky Satrio said.<\/p>\n
East Kalimantan produced 20 million metric tons of coal and
\n1.1 million tons of wood products in 1997. These were mostly sold
\nin export markets.<\/p>\n
Lucky said the company expected to receive financing from
\nforeign investors including the United States investment company
\nNewman Investment Ltd, the World Bank and the Asian Development
\nBank.<\/p>\n
No financing agreements have been signed.<\/p>\n
The Kaltim Railway Network, if realized, will become the first
\nbuilt by Indonesians.<\/p>\n
All the railroad networks currently operating in the country
\ndate back to the Dutch colonial era.<\/p>\n
Samad said he hatched the idea of developing the project in
\n1993.<\/p>\n
After getting support from the East Kalimantan administration,
\nthe company teamed up with Dutch consultancy company Infraneth to
\ncarry out a pre-feasibility study in 1994.<\/p>\n
The same year, Senong signed a memorandum of understanding
\n(MOU) with the state railroad company Perumka to co-operate in
\nthe railroad network under a build-operate-transfer (BOT)
\ncontract.<\/p>\n
Samad said the company had also signed MOUs with five state
\nengineering companies -- train equipment maker PT Inka, military
\nequipment maker PT Pindad, engineering firm PT Barata,
\ntelecommunications equipment maker PT Inti, electronics
\nmanufacturer PT Len -- to supply equipment to the company. All
\nthese companies have been incorporated into the newly established
\nholding company PT Pakarya Industri.<\/p>\n
State construction company PT Waskita Karya will serve as the
\ncontractor.<\/p>\n
Another local company, PT Bonto Bulaeng, has said it plans to
\nbuild a railroad network in East Kalimantan but the head of
\nPerumka's joint operations office, Suhaimi, said the company had
\nnot yet reported to Perumka, the sole company entitled by law to
\noperate the country's railroad networks. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/senong-to-build-us500m-railroad-in-e-kalimantan-1447893297",
"image": ""
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