Minister wants Priok railway station to be reactivated

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto asked the state-owned train company Perumka yesterday to reactivate the now idle Tanjung Priok railway station for use as a freight and container railroad transport terminal.

The minister reportedly made the suggestion based on the increased flow of freight and containers at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port.

"The flow of containers in and out of the port should not be dependent on trucks as a means of transportation, because of the imbalance between the growth of the road system and the container flow," Haryanto said. The minister was speaking on the occasion of an evaluation of the current National Discipline Drive for the North Jakarta mayoralty.

According to Haryanto, with the partial completion of Container Terminal III, the storage capacity at Tanjung Priok port has reached an average of two million TEUs (or Twenty Equivalent Units, a measurement used for capacity) annually.

"With 1.2 million TEUs a year, the container flow at present averages 2,500 boxes a day. After Terminal III is completed it is estimated that 4,000 boxes a day will go through the port," Haryanto said as quoted by Antara news agency.

To support the Priok train terminal, Haryanto called on Perumka to construct dry ports in Tangerang and Bekasi.

Tanjung Priok port has lately been under fire for what its users see as red tape and poor facilities which have been causing serious delays in the cargo handling and longer docking times for ships.

House of Representatives members voiced concern late last month over the havoc at the Tanjung Priok port, saying that privately-managed terminal operators should be dissolved.

The terminal operators include PT Hamparan Jala Segara, PT Prima Nur Panurjwan, PT Sarana Tirta Semesta, PT Sarana Bandar Nasional, PT Urun Karya Segara, PT Dwipa Hasta Utamaduta, PT Dharma Lautan Nusantara, PT Andalan Tama, PT Gemar Laut Biru, PT Tangguh Samudera Jaya, and PT Karya Abdi Luhur. (01)