Adisumarmo airpot expansion ready next year
Adisumarmo airpot expansion ready next year
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto
said yesterday that the Adisumarmo airport in Surakarta, Central
Java, will be ready for trial operation early next year after the
completion of an expansion project in late December.
"The airport is scheduled to handle the transportation of haj
pilgrims with wide-body jets in March next year," Haryanto told
reporters after meeting with President Soeharto at Bina Graha
presidential office.
Haj pilgrims leave Indonesia from five airports, including
Halim Perdanakusumah airport in Jakarta, Juanda airport in
Surabaya, East Java, Hasanuddin airport in Ujungpandang, South
Sulawesi, Polonia airport in Medan, North Sumatra, and Sepinggan
airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
Haryanto said that the expansion of the Adisumarmo airport
will upgrade the facility as a "futuristic air terminal".
He said the airport's runway is being extended to accommodate
jumbo jets like Boeing B-747-400s. The current runway can only
receive aircraft of up to the size of B-737s.
"I reported to the President that the interior design of the
first phase of the upgrading project will include joglo," he
said. Joglo is a Javanese traditional housing structure.
The first phase of the Adisumarmo airport expansion is being
carried out by the government in cooperation with PT Yala Perkasa
Internasional, a subsidiary of PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada
which is run by President Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana.
Haryanto said yesterday that the aging Polonia airport in
Medan will also go through change.
The airport in North Sumatra will be moved to a place slightly
north of the current site, still in the Kualanamu district. The
planned airport will consist of a 1,800-hectare area for
commercial activities and a 1,000-hectare area for military
purposes, he said.
He said that Dutch and German firms had expressed interest in
participating in the Polonia airport upgrading.
Seaport
Haryanto said yesterday that he also reported to the President
about the integrated service at the Tanjung Priok port in North
Jakarta.
The minister said that during the July 15 to July 21 period,
the conventional facility at the port could handle up to 60,000
tons of containers per day.
"We have seen that the highest rate reach 69,609 tons per day
and the lowest was 49,265 tons, with the average at 56,298 tons,"
he said. "Last year's rate was just 35,000 tons."
He said that Tanjung Priok's container terminal was targeted
to handle up to 3,000 containers per day, with the highest rate
being 3,915 containers, the lowest 2,280, and the average 2,986.
"The conventional facility will be improved to handle up to
70,000 tons per day and the container terminal up to 3,500
containers per day," he said.
Haryanto said that fees at Indonesian seaports are competitive
compared with other ports in neighboring countries.
"We charge US$62 for unloading by crane, as compared to $109
in Singapore, $74 in Malaysia and $80 in Thailand," he said.
He admitted that the Indonesian rate is cheaper even though
businesses frequently complain about illegal levies at the major
seaports in the country, including Tanjung Priok, Tanjung Perak
in East Java, Belawan in North Sumatra and Makassar in South
Sulawesi. (icn)