Minister wants Priok railway station to be reactivated

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)