Approaching the enforcement of the Law on Free Trade and

Approaching the enforcement of the Law on Free Trade and Harbor Zone in Batam, the island's infrastructure is increasingly being geared toward readiness for the free trade zone. To ensure the success of Batam as a free trade zone, seaports, airports and roads are absolutely needed.

The Batam Authority (BO), which has been entrusted by the central government to manage Batam island over the past 30 years, has successfully prepared these vital facilities to face open competition.

Seaports

Batam island alone, measuring some 415 square kilometers and expanding to 715 km2 when Rempang and Galang islands are included, boasts seven seaports in Galang island, Telaga Pungu, Nongsa, Marina, Sekupang, Kabil and Batu Ampar. The last three are cargo seaports.

Insan Kamil, the administrator of the seaport office, said his office had prepared two regulations for the seaports in the liberalized trade era. One of the regulations deals with the stipulation of a seaport working sphere (DLKP) and the other is concerned with the seaports' interest sphere (DLKL). These regulations are aimed at isolating seaports from activities beyond their working or interest spheres.

This policy has been adopted because the Batam seaport administrator wishes to help the users of seaports, particularly investors.

"A jump from one policy will never occur drastically, but only in phases. We are now preparing and planning concepts that will balance these gradual changes. One of our plans is the DLKP and DLKL," Insan Kamil said.

Talking about cargo ports in Batam, Batu Ampar has been made a cargo seaport and is a priority of the seaport management. At present Batu Ampar, which has an open-air warehouse measuring 214,000 m2, is bigger than the other two cargo ports. The docking capacity at this port is 35,000 dead weight tons (DWTs), while its length is 1,250m.

The port capacity, Insan Kamil said, will continue to be improved by ensuring that the existing facilities are maximized.

And the port management prioritizes security over other matters. Security is the most important factor in allowing investors to conduct business comfortably in Batam. Cooperation with the police and the Batam Authority's Protection Directorate (Ditpam), a unit assigned to safeguard the assets of the Batam Authority, is part of the all-out effort to prevent any incidents in a port area.

Kabil Port: This port is located in Nongsa district, some 30 km from the center of the Batam city of Nagoya. With a docking capacity of 35,000 DWTs, this port can handle vessels with a big loading capacity. The port itself is specially used for palm oil and crude palm oil (CPO). As it is located quite far from the city center, it provides greater comfort and is ready to accommodate specific activities in the port sector.

This port also has an open-air warehouse measuring some 100,000 m2 and a closed warehouse of 1,890 m2. The pier is 420 m long. With these facilities and capacities, Kabil port is really ready to serve as a busy cargo port.

Sekupang Port: This seaport is dominated by wooden vessels carrying electronic equipment from Singapore to be sold in Batam. However, it is not as busy as the two seaports in Singapore. Sekupang now has a docking capacity of 10,000 DWTs and a 177 meter-long pier. The port is also provided with an open-air warehouse measuring 116,110 m2 and a closed warehouse measuring 42,240 m2.

"A seaport is in fact a bonded or free trade zone and must be integrated with the management of an industrial estate. Factually, this has happened and we are ready to prepare the legal instruments," said Insan Kamil.

He added that the ports in Batam had been opened up to various activities with a multiplier effect related to multiplayers, as evident by mounting port activities favorably influencing other sectors outside the ports. This can only mean that the ports are being well managed.

"Batam island has proven that its multiplier effect has brought to life other sectors, something we ought to be grateful for," Insan Kamil added.

Airport

Hang Nadim, named after a famous Malay general in 1511-1528, has been immortalized as the name of Batam's airport. The airport's 4,025-meter runway is the longest in Southeast Asia. It is longer than the runway at Soekarno-Hatta airport, which is only 3,650 meters long, and is slightly longer than the 4,000 meter-long runway at Singapore's Changi airport.

Located on a 1,600-hectare lot, Hang Nadim airport currently serves 16 domestic routes. Ten of its daily destinations include Jakarta, Jambi, Padang, Solo, Pekan Baru, Medan and Surabaya, which are served by various airlines, including: Garuda Indonesia Airways, Pelita Air, Jayayu, Mandala Airlines, Lion Airlines, Bouraq and Merpati Nusantara.

Hang Nadim airport chief, Imam Soelvan, said that there were several programs to enhance the airport's facilities in the free trade zone.

The first program is to maximize its capacity. As airport number three, after Soekarno-Hatta and Ngurah Rai, Hang Nadim airport has been actively promoted to domestic and international airlines. A positive result of this promotion was China Airlines' inclusion of Hang Nadim as one of the airlines' destinations. Another foreign airline, Asia Air, also has a similar plan in the near future.

The next program is to turn it into an airport, complete with shopping centers. "Only major international airports have them. This program should be realized within four months at the most," Imam Soelvan said.

To support Batam as an industrial zone, the airport also serves international cargo flights from Up Flight Cargo International. The Batam-Hong Kong route is served by Mandala Airlines using A 300 planes three times a week. Smaller craft are used by Sabang Marauke Air Charter (four times daily) and Condiction Air (twice daily) for the cargo sent to Singapore.

"Batam's Hang Nadim airport has also been included in the Bilateral Agreement by the central government to make it a destination for international airlines. This is in relation to the current high demand, which makes Hang Nadim airport quite competitive compared to Singapore's, Kuala Lumpur's and Bangkok's airports," assured Imam Soelvan.

The airport was awarded the ISO 9002 Certificate by Lloyds Quality Insurance in April 2002 for Quality Management System, which is evaluated every six months.

"Hang Nadim is the only Indonesian airport to receive this certificate and naturally we'll do our best to maintain it," Imam Soelvan said.

The airport, which is equipped with the latest rampways for passengers' access to aircraft, is currently handling 3.3 million passengers annually. Only two other airports in Indonesia also have these sophisticated rampways: Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta and Ngurah Rai airport in Bali.