$3.8b transportation studies proposed
$3.8b transportation studies proposed
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an effort to improve access to cities in border regions, the Ministry of Transportation has conducted feasibility studies on transportation in those areas so that they will not lag behind those in Java.
The studies, funded by a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), came up with 26 projects worth US$3.8 billion for air, land and sea transportation.
"Transportation development in these regions should be implemented with good coordination and integration between the central government and regional administrations," Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa said on Wednesday in a speech at a seminar on the studies.
He said his ministry had led many initiatives to support the acceleration of development in border areas.
The studies cover the connections of two ASEAN sub-regions: the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines-East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
The IMT-GT stretches from Thailand down to Malaysia and includes the Indonesian provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra and Bengkulu.
Meanwhile BIMP-EAGA covers Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and all the Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
The bulk of the proposed projects were two railway projects in Sumatra Island connecting Muaro-Dumai-Duri-Rantau Prapat worth some US$2.5 billion and another in Kalimantan linking Pontianak and Sambas in West Kalimantan to Kuching in Malaysia worth some $425 million.
This left about $901 million to finance the other proposed projects.
Study team leader Ken Kumazawa told The Jakarta Post that three of the 26 projects should be the highest priority, considering their economic potential.
The three are the improvement of Medan-Penang ferry route using the existing service; the construction of Pontianak-Kuching road and railway; and the improvement of sea routes linking Manado and Bitung in North Sulawesi to General Santos and Davao in the Philippines.
Kumazawa also said that such projects were needed to reduce the disparity of development between Java and other islands.
"The Indonesian government used to concentrate everything, from industries to toll roads, in Java which was good for efficiency. All the money was in Java after all," he said.
The Indonesian government will need around $150 billion for infrastructure development during the next five years. Some $25 billion, or 17 percent, is expected from the state budget; $30 billion from domestic finance institutions; $10 billion from foreign donors; and $80 billion in bulk from private and foreign investors.
Some of the 26 transportation projects were put up for investment at the just-concluded Infrastructure Summit. During the summit, the government invited investors to take part in 91 infrastructure projects worth $22 billion.