Indonesia needs new lighthouses
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, the largest archipelagic nation in the world, needs 3,283 new lighthouses to ensure the safety of water transportation across the country.
Director General of Sea Transportation Soentoro said here yesterday that because Indonesia has not yet been able to build such facilities by itself, it is opening its doors wide to foreign investors interested in manufacturing or assembling lighthouses in the country.
Indonesia currently has 1,752 lighthouses across the archipelago, of which 1,537 are offshore and only 215 are located on coasts.
Soentoro said the existing lighthouses serve only 35 percent of the total needs as the country has many narrow and shallow straits.
"Look. The market is here. So, I'm glad to hear that SAMTSC- Gisman of France will open a branch office here. And I'll be happier still if SAMTSC-Gisman will also build an assembling plant here," Soentoro said in his speech at the signing of a contract between SAMTSC-Gisman and PT Gitapurna Satyaprima for the contraction of 26 lighthouses.
The funding for the lighthouse construction is provided by the French government in the form of a soft loan of 24.48 million French francs (US$4.45 million).
Soentoro said the 26 lighthouses will be installed in areas with high density sea traffic.
Jacques Briand of SAMTSC-Gisman told The Jakarta Post that his company is interested in investing its money and talents in Indonesia.
"We have signed a cooperation agreement with the National Electronics Institute in Bandung, West Java, for the development of electronic components of lighthouses," Briand said.
He declined to mention the value of the investments.
Briand noted that SAMTSC-Gisman also plans to build steel structures for lighthouses in Jakarta but has not yet found any local partner.
France is the second country interested in navigation- infrastructure investments in the country after Japan, Soentoro said. "But until now, the Japanese investors have not yet materialized any projects," he said. (rid)