Facilities at two Jakarta airports better
Facilities at two Jakarta airports better
JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Transportation is upgrading
technical facilities at two Jakarta airports to cater to Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum leaders, who will
convene in the West Java city of Bogor in November.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto announced after
attending a hearing with Commission V of the House of
Representatives (DPR) yesterday that the radio navigation system
and radar at Soekarno-Hatta airport in Cengkareng, west of here,
and Halim Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta are being
improved by Hughes Corporation of the United States.
APEC leaders traveling here on special aircraft, including
American President Bill Clinton, are expected to land at Halim
Perdanakusuma while the others, who will arrive on commercial
flights, will land at Soekarno-Hatta.
"The US$17.5 million improvement projects will be completed in
October," he said.
Haryanto said last week that several lights along Soekarno-
Hatta's runways were broken and that Indonesia needs to import
replacements from France.
The minister, however, declined recent reports that most
airports in Indonesia lack adequate facilities and
infrastructures.
Executives of state air carriers Garuda Indonesia and Merpati
Nusantara last week told the commission, which is in charge of
transportation, public works, tourism and telecommunications,
that navigation systems at many airports in the country are
outdated and lack high-powered, high frequency long distance
communications devices.
Even Haryanto acknowledged yesterday that his small aircraft,
on which he flew from Singapore to Jakarta on Monday, had to be
controlled by telecommunications devices in Singapore while he
was 200 miles off the island state heading towards Jakarta.
"The high-powered, high frequency long distance communications
devices at Soekarno-Hatta, therefore, need improvement," he said.
Haryanto also said that his office has collected numerous
proposals from private firms intending to develop airports, ports
and railway and bus stations throughout the country at total
costs of Rp 15.5 trillion ($711 billion).
The government has been inviting both local and foreign firms
to build and expand transportation facilities in the country
under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) scheme.
The minister said a private company has shown interest in
providing roll-on-and-roll-off ferry service between Jakarta and
Surabaya in East Java under a BOT contract to reduce the burden
of road transportation between the two cities.
"The private firm will cooperate with three state-owned firms
to provide the service under a contract to be signed here on
Saturday," he said, adding that the company will provide two
European-made ferries capable of carrying 200 trucks or trailers
each for the planned service.
Merpati
Meanwhile Director General of Civil Aviation Zainuddin Sikado
said that Merpati Nusantara will sign an agreement with the
state's aircraft manufacturer IPTN to maintain CN-235s.
Merpati currently owns a fleet of 89 aircraft, including 14
IPTN-made CN-235s. The airline however can operate only nine of
the CN-235s as the other five are grounded due to an assortment
of problems, such as lack of spare parts.
Merpati Nusantara, which will be split next year from its
holding company Garuda, has never turned a profit. From 1991 up
to now, Merpati suffered a total loss of Rp 129.55 billion
($59.43 million), of which Rp 93.45 billion was caused by the
grounding of the CN-235s.
Sikado said that Merpati will have new domestic routes when it
becomes an independent firm in 1995, so that it can gain more
income.
Merpati Nusantara plans to use about 100 IPTN airplanes
comprising CN-235s and CN-250s. In procuring 15 CN-235s from 1988
to 1993, Merpati received $144.51 million in loans from the
state-owned Bank Bumi Daya and Rp 645.21 million from the
government.
The airline will improve international service early next
month by serving Singapore from Solo in Central Java and
Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi.(icn)