Govt to settle new port dispute
Govt to settle new port dispute
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Concerned about the dispute over authority of the planned new
port project in Jakarta, the government has set up a legal team
that should resolve the matter by early next month, a minister
said on Tuesday.
"The team, consisting of representatives from the Ministry of
Transportation, the Office of the State Minister of State
Enterprises, Pelindo and the Jakarta administration, will come up
with solutions regarding the legal dispute of Jakarta New Port
(JNP) in April," Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa said.
Jakarta New Port (JNP), a planned sea port worth Rp 8 trillion
(US$855 million) located in East Ancol, North Jakarta, has been
the subject of dispute between state port operator PT Pelindo II
and the city administration, who initiated the plan.
Governor Sutiyoso, referring to Law No. 39/1999 on the Jakarta
administration, pointed out that the city has a strong legal
basis for the development and management of its own ports.
The city is planning to build a car terminal, multipurpose
terminal, offices and business/shipping centers that would be
ready to operate in six years.
Pelindo II, however, based their arguments on Government
Regulation No. 69/2001 on national ports that only the state-
owned port operator has the authority to build new national and
international sea ports.
The port operator is planning a similar integrated 500-hectare
extension of the current Tanjung Priok International Port in the
same location. The project is now in its reclamation phase and
projected to begin operating in 2012.
As stated in its website, the new terminal would add 2.7
million TEUs (20 feet equivalent units) to the current Tanjung
Priok capacity of 1.1 million TEUs. The increase is expected to
meet the projected demand of around 4 million TEUs in 2012.
With the formation of the legal team, Hatta said, solutions
offered would hopefully be based on common interests.
The team, he added, would also discuss legal matters
concerning contracts between Pelindo II and a foreign investor on
the restriction for the port operator to built a new port within
1,000 kilometers from the existing Tanjung Priok.
"If there was unfairness in the contract, we would review it,
but with prudence so that it would not risk investors' trust,"
Hatta said. (003)