Govt to issue bonds to finance toll road project
Govt to issue bonds to finance toll road project
Fitri Wulandari
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
The government plans to issue bonds in a bid to raise cash to
help finance 70 kilometers (km) of toll road in Java, according
to a senior minister.
Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno
said that three state-owned securities firms, including Bahana
Securities, Mandiri Securities and Danareksa Securities, had been
appointed to help arrange the bond issuance.
Speaking after a limited Cabinet meeting, Soenarno said that
the project might cost around Rp 3.6 trillion (US$423.53
million).
He did not disclose the size of the planned bond issue or
other details, saying only that the securities firms were still
making the necessary preparations.
"They will prepare the prospectus and then offer the bonds.
The preparation would take about a month," he said.
Soenarno was optimistic at the issue as bonds intended for
financing infrastructure projects had previously sold well on the
market.
The project consists of unfinished sections of the Jakarta
outer ring road (JORR) and the Cikampek to Padalarang stage II
toll road project, West Java.
This is the first stage of the planned 1,486-km toll road
project that will link Merak, Banten, with Banyuwangi, East Java.
The overall project, scheduled to start this year and continue
until 2009, is estimated to cost some Rp 77.3 trillion.
The Cabinet meeting also discussed progress in the
construction and improvement of railways in Java and Sumatra as
well as possible construction of a railway in Kalimantan.
This year, the government plans to complete double-tracking
from Cikampek to Cirebon and Cikampek to Bandung (both in West
Java) and Yogyakarta to Surakarta, Central Java.
The government will also upgrade railway facilities in South
Sumatra to help improve coal transportation amid increasing
demand for the commodity from new power plants in Cilegon and
Lampung.
Sumatra is one of the main coal mining sites in the country.
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-
Jakti said the government would start various studies to push
ahead with the construction of a railway in Kalimantan.
These include initial design for the 60-km Samarinda to
Balikpapan section, East Kalimantan; Banjarmasin, South
Kalimantan, to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, phase 1 (100 km)
and a feasibility study on the 100-km Bontang to Samarinda
section, East Kalimantan.