Govt to evaluate bid on Sepinggan airport project
Govt to evaluate bid on Sepinggan airport project
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto
yesterday said he will evaluate the tender of the expansion
project of the Sepinggan airport in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
"The evaluation does not imply that those awarded the bid will
see it revoked," Haryanto told reporters after attending a
ministerial meeting at the Ministry of Finance yesterday.
A local report disclosed over the weekend that Coordinating
Minister for Economy and Finance Saleh Afiff has sent a note to
Haryanto to reopen the tender for the multi-million-dollar
project, following wide protest from the Jakarta chapter of the
Indonesian Association of Builders.
A source at the association said that the tender was offered
in early December last year, in which 14 firms, comprising of 12
private companies, one state-run contractor and one Japan-based
venture, participated.
In April this year, the government awarded two companies the
contract, PT Hazama, which is affiliated to a Japanese firm, and
PT Adhi Karya, a state company under the supervision of the
Ministry of Public Works.
The disqualified companies were PT Chandra Dirgantara, PT
Rekayasa Industri, PT Indoteam Merimba, PT Bimantara Citra, PT
Yala Perkasa, PT Jaya Konstruksi, PT Murinda Iron Steel, PT Idee
Murni Pratama, PT Kali Raya Sari, PT Hutama Karya, PT Tranaco and
PT Bukaka Teknik Utama.
Loss
According to association, the government will suffer a total
loss of about Rp 17 billion (US$7.7 million) as the PT Hazama and
PT Adhi Karya proposed Rp 62 billion and Rp 71 billion
respectively, while the 12 disqualified firms presented proposals
of between Rp 45 billion and Rp 50 billion.
The association also said that with the completion of the
project, the second phase expansion will make Sepinggan an
international airport, which will be funded by the Overseas
Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan and therefore the bid
should be international.
The association has also accused the government of hiring
several OECF consultants in the selection.
Haryanto said earlier that the government is inviting both
local and foreign firms to build and expand airports in the
country under build, operate and transfer contracts.
The projects, which will consist of the construction of two
new airports and the expansion of four existing ones, will cost
around $1.46 billion, while the expansion of the Sepinggan
airport in Balikpapan will be funded with a $150-million aid from
OECF.
He said that a special team comprising 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, has been established to
oversee the planned airport projects.(icn)