Citra Lamtorogung to build new airport in North Sumatra
JAKARTA (JP): PT Citra Lamtorogung Persada, a company owned by President Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, has won a contract to build a US$600 million airport near Medan, the capital of North Sumatra.
The company, in cooperation with Schiphol airport of the Netherlands, will construct the airport, to replace the aging Polonia airport, on 2,200-hectares of land in Kuala Namu, Deli Serdang, about 20 km from Medan.
"We will start the construction of the new airport by the middle of next year," Hardiyanti, nicknamed Tutut, said during a meeting with the North Sumatra's governor, Raja Inal Siregar, on Friday.
She said the new airport will replace the Polonia airport, which is not adequate to meet future expansion of air traffic or the development of Medan.
Tutut said the construction of the new airport will be completed by 1998.
"The new airport, which will have two runways with lengths of 3,000 and 4,000 meters respectively, will be able to accommodate large aircraft like Boeing 747-400 or Boeing 777-Mega Top planes," Tutut was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.
Foreign airline
She said many foreign air carriers are expected to serve the province on the completion of the new airport. KLM, a Dutch airline, will be the first foreign airline to serve the new airport.
The government previously approved the construction of new airports by private firms.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said recently that the government is inviting local and foreign firms to build and expand airports in the country under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract.
However, the arrangements should be set jointly with state- owned Perum Angkasa Pura, the present operator of Indonesian airports, Haryanto added.
Tutut said some 30 percent of the cost for the construction of the Medan airport will be financed by the government and the remaining 70 percent by the private firms.
She said that besides commercial flights, the new airport will also be the home base of the Indonesian air force.
A source at the North Sumatra provincial administration said the government has not decided on a name for the new airport. Two names, however, have been proposed; "Adam Malik", the second vice president under President Soeharto's presidency, and "Sisingamangaraja XII", North Sumatra's local hero.
The source said the local administration has also asked Tutut to construct a freeway and a railway to facilitate passengers traveling to the new airport. (02)