Firms invited to build, operate new airports
JAKARTA (JP): The government will invite local and foreign firms to build and expand airports in the country under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract.
Transportation Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto told newsmen here Saturday that the projects, which will consist of the construction of two new airports and the expansion of four existing ones, would cost around US$1.46 billion.
"A special team will soon be established to oversee the planned airport projects," Haryanto told newsmen following his meeting with President Soeharto.
He said the team will comprise of high ranking officials from the offices of the Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance and the Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry, the Investment Coordinating Board, the Ministry of Finance and the National Land Agency.
Haryanto described the establishment of the team as an important breakthrough in the recently launched investment reforms. Among other things, these reforms will allow foreign and local firms to enter the country's airport business under a BOT contract.
The new airports will be built in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province and in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. Existing airports which will be expanded will include the Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java, the Adi Sumarmo Airport in Solo, Central Java, the Hasanuddin Airport in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi and the Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado, North Sulawesi.
The planned new airport in North Sumatra will be built in Kualanamu of Deli Serdang, near the province's capital of Medan, to replace the operation of the aging Polonia airport.
Haryanto said the Polonia airport is no longer adequate to meet future expansion of air traffic.
Interest
"A number of foreign companies have expressed a keen interest to build the new airport in Medan, including Schiphol of the Netherlands," the minister said, adding the new airport will be built in two stages on a 2,200-hectare plot. Around 1,200 hectares of the designated land will be used for civil aviation and the remainders for the Indonesian Air Force.
The construction of the new airport in Medan, which will have two runways of around 3,000 and 4,000 meters in length respectively, will cost at least $600 million.
The construction of the new airport in Central Lombok will cost around $169.37 million. Local and foreign companies will be also involved in the construction and operation of the airport under a BOT contract.
The expansion of the Juanda Airport in Surabaya will cost around $114.6 million, the Adi Sumarmo in Solo around $130 million, the Hasanuddin Airport in Ujungpandang around $270 million and the Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado around $179 million. "The expansion will enable the four airports to accommodate large aircraft like Boeing 747-400 planes," the minister said.
Haryanto Dhanutirto explained that the expansion of the airports will be also based on BOT contracts but he said that the arrangements should be jointly set with state-owned Perum Angkasa Pura, the present operator of the airports.
The minister also reported to the President about the public suggestion to partly hand over air transportation services for haj pilgrims to Mecca to private airline companies from the state-owned Garuda Indonesia.
"The President decided that the transportation for haj pilgrims should be solely handled by Garuda," he said, adding that private airline companies are allowed to join the haj transportation by, for example, leasing planes to Garuda.
More than 150,000 Indonesians went to Mecca for haj pilgrimage a few weeks ago. (hen)