Govt prepares tender for airport expansion project

JAKARTA (JP): The government is preparing the tender for the expansion of Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar, Bali, said a transportation official.

I Dewa Putu Suma, the ministry of transportation's provincial office head in Bali, said the second and third phase of the expansion would start on April 1.

Sources, however, said that the project would not start until after the May general election because the tender process would take time.

Dewa said the second and third phase of the airport's expansion would be jointly conducted with Japanese contractors. The project is estimated to cost Rp 500 billion (US$208.68 million) and will be partially financed by Japan's Overseas Economic Development Fund, he said.

He said bidders for the project included several international firms, but he declined to name any.

The expansion is aimed to anticipate the increase in travelers and commercial activities every year.

The first phase of the project was carried out last year to enable the airport to accommodate 4.5 million people a year, until 2000.

The number of travelers reached 5.1 million last year from 4.8 million in 1995, and is expected to increase to 5.2 million this year.

Dewa said the airport would be able to accommodate 9.5 million people by 1999 upon the completion of the second phase. The capacity will increase to 13.2 million people in 2005 on the completion of the third phase.

Ngurah Rai airport now serves 60,993 flights from 25 airlines, 37,808 of which are domestic and 23,185 are international. (02)