Infrastructure developed on Bintan island
JAKARTA (JP): The infrastructure constructed on Bintan Island, which is part of the triangle of growth linking Singapore, the Malaysian state of Johor and the Indonesian province of Riau, is now ready to support the development of tourist and industrial facilities.
"Development of infrastructure on the island for tourist and industrial facilities is excellent. The government will officially introduce the island as a new tourist destination in July or August," Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo told The Jakarta Post and the privately-run television network RCTI in an interview here on Saturday.
A tourist resort, built on a 19,000-hectare plot of land in the northern part of the island, is now connected to a new 25- kilometer highway linking the eastern and western parts of the island.
"We hope the construction of another new 25-kilometer highway will be completed before the end of this year," Tunky said.
The Directorate General of Road Development last year opened up a 150-kilometer bypass road from Kijang at the southeastern tip of the island through Tanjung Pinang in the southwestern tip and to Tanjung Uban at the northwestern tip.
"In addition, the island has a 28-megawatt power generation station, complete with transmission networks and integrated power substations," he said.
He expected that the power capacity will be increased in line with the development of the island in the future.
Other facilities, including a water supply center and telecommunications systems, are now in the final stages of construction.
Ferry terminal
Tunky said Bintan Island has a newly set-up ferry terminal at Teluk Sebung, which can serve tourists going to Bintan Island from Singapore.
Singapore now operates an express ferry with a capacity of 300 seats, which can carry several cars, to serve tourists bound to Teluk Sebung.
Besides the Teluk Sebung terminal, the island will also have another ferry terminal in Tanjung Uban, located near the Bintan industrial estate, which is designed to handle 10 ferries simultaneously. The terminal is now being constructed by the state-owned PT Waskita Karya.
A report earlier said that developers of the tourist resort, involving Indonesia's diversified business giant, Salim Group, Singapore Technologies Industrial Corp. SAFE Enterprises, Straits Steamship Land and Temasek Holding and Japan's Kintetsu Group, will also construct Bintan International Beach and Bintan Lagoon Beach, including a four-star hotel with 400 rooms, a Golf Resort with three 18-hole golf courses, as well as 100 villas.
"The construction of the villas will likely be completed in July and the hotel complex by the end of next year," Tunky predicted.
Bintan Island, which has a population of over 100,000 people, is 120,000 hectares in size.
Industrial estate
Total investments on the island have reportedly reached US$2 billion.
"Unlike Batam Island which is designed to handle heavy industries and electronics, the industrial estate in Bintan is allocated for medium-scale plants producing garments, textiles, furniture, toys, food and printing goods," Tunky said.
The Bintan industrial estate is 70 percent owned by Salim Group, 15 percent by Singapore's Jurong Environmental Engineering and 15 percent by Singapore's Technologies Industrial Corp.
The Bisnis Indonesia daily reported on Saturday that Salim Group has added its investments for development of Bintan and Batam industrial estates with $500 million in fresh funds.
The daily quoted Sudwikatmono, president of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, a subsidiary of Salim Group, as saying that the funds, taken from its mandatory exchange bonds at Global Mark International Ltd (GMIL), will finance the expansion of industrial and housing facilities and infrastructure facilities on the two islands.
Karimun
Tunky said Salim Group is now establishing industrial projects in the Karimun islands in the province of Riau.
On Karimun Kecil Island, Salim Group, in cooperation with the local authorities, a navy foundation, Sembawang Group of Singapore, will set up a crude oil terminal with floating tanks for the stockpiling of oil from the Middle East, he said.
"The terminal, designed to supply crude oil to the eastern parts of Asia, will have a capacity of 10 million barrels," he said. He declined to elaborate the investments for the terminal, but a report earlier said that those will reach $500 million.
The terminal to be located on a 3,600-hectare land will be operated by PT Bangun Tjipta Indo Karimun.
Tunky an industrial estate will also be built on the Karimun Besar Island, which will be used mainly for plants operating in the steel-based heavy industry, he said.
Tunky estimated that investments in the Karimun islands will exceed $1.2 billion. (fhp)