Infrastructure developed on Bintan island

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)