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)