North Sulawesi fishing port project postponed

North Sulawesi fishing port project postponed

Yongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Manado

Central government has decided to delay indefinitely the multi-
billion rupiah Bitung fishing port project in North Sulawesi for
reasons that are not yet clear.

Deputy Governor Freddy Hary Sualang recently told The Jakarta
Post that the delay was probably due to advice from the Japanese
consultants, who said that the fishing port was too small and was
located in the wrong place.

"The Japanese consultants' recommendation was very influential
because the projects are funded by loans from the Japan
International Bank Corporation Association (JIBCA), Freddy
reiterated on Friday.

What has prompted questions by many is the fact that then
president Abdurrahman Wahid laid the cornerstones for both the
fishing port and the extension of Bitung port weeks before he was
dismissed from the presidency in July this year.

No one objected to or protested the plan. The argument that
the fishing port was too small was also not made, despite the
fact that the fishing port project was only 75 meters away from
the Bitung port extension project.

Now the Bitung port extension project will continue, but not
the fishing port project.

Japanese construction company Ringkai Marubeni, in cooperation
with state-owned company PT Adi Karya, is carrying out the Bitung
port extension project.

For the first stage, the Bitung port project will receive Rp
160 billion and the fishing port project should have received Rp
10 billion. All the money was from Jibca loans, Freddy said.

Freddy also said, however, that the delay of the fishing port
project effectively ended the dispute between the offices of the
fisheries and transportation ministries, which had been competing
to carry it out.

It is customary in Indonesia that institutions compete with
each other to carry out and control multi-billion rupiah projects
such as this.

Freddy said that the North Sulawesi provincial administration
had found it difficult to decide which of the two should carry
out the fishing port project.

"They both had very reasonable and acceptable arguments. But a
week ago I was informed that the project had been postponed
indefinitely," said Freddy.

Head of the fisheries office Kaunang said that the
construction of a fishing port in North Sulawesi was essential to
improve fish exports. "Fishing in the province has yet to make
any significant progress due to the absence of a good fishing
port."

Administrator of the Bitung port Rosman Idris said earlier
that the fishing port project would have hampered the loading and
unloading process at the existing Bitung port.

"The (fishing port) project would have endangered vessels
sailing into Lembeh Bay. Consequently, the fishery port should be
moved to another location," Rosman said.

Freddy said he was optimistic that the fishing port project
could be moved to another area still within the province.