Perumka's locomotives delivered soon

JAKARTA (JP): PT GE Locomotif Indonesia is planning to deliver this month the first two of 15 locomotives ordered by the state railway company Perumka.

GE Locomotif president Michael D. Popielec said yesterday another locomotive would be delivered to the Philippines' International Container Terminal Services Inc.

The three U20C type diesel generator locomotives have 2,150 PK gross power and maximum speeds of 120 kilometer an hour, he said.

"Perumka's two new locomotives will be officially launched by President Soeharto on Dec. 17," Perumka director Soemino Eko Saputro said.

He said all 15 locomotives ordered by Perumka would be completed by mid-1997 and be identical to those made by General Electric (GE) in the United States.

He said Perumka operated 520 locomotives: 140 were imported from GE's factory in the United States.

GE Locomotif director Suhaimi said, "The locomotives were sold to Perumka for US$1.4 million each in cash."

GE Locomotif, established 1995, is owned by General Electric, its subsidiary PT GE Technology Indonesia and the state-owned railway contractor PT INKA.

GE Locomotif director Hermin Sarengat said her company could produce 24 locomotives a year.

She said GE Locomotif was negotiating for another 25 orders from local and overseas railway operators.

The company plans to increase the local content of its locomotives to 50 percent in the next few years from 12 percent at present.

Giri S. Hadihardjono, the vice chairman of Management Body of Strategic Industries which oversees PT INKA, said GE Locomotif planned to build different types of locomotive for local and overseas markets.

GE Locomotif was expected to maintain the quality of its locomotives to make it easier to enter foreign markets, he said.

"The company has big opportunities to sell its products to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh where railways are important means," he said.(04)