Senong to build US$500m railroad in E. Kalimantan
Senong to build US$500m railroad in E. Kalimantan
JAKARTA (JP): Local company PT Senong Corporindo plans to
build a US$500 million railroad network in East Kalimantan to
transport coal and forest products around the province, the
company said yesterday.
Company president HA Samad Senong said the company would first
build a 120-kilometer track connecting the coal port of Tanjung
Batu in Balikpapan to Samarinda.
He said the railroad would be used to transport coal, plywood
and agroindustry products produced by companies operating in the
nearby areas.
In the second stage, the company is to build another 130-km
line linking Balikpapan to coal mining operations in Central
Kalimantan.
"The total project will need an investment of US$500 million,
including $264 million for the development of the railroad
network linking Balikpapan and Samarinda," Samad said.
The company said it would begin 18 months of engineering and
basic designs and market analysis this month and the construction
of the Balikpapan-Samarinda railroad was scheduled for completion
in 2003.
"We hope our economy will recover by 2003 and the project will
be the backbone of the economy in East Kalimantan," company
director Lucky Satrio said.
East Kalimantan produced 20 million metric tons of coal and
1.1 million tons of wood products in 1997. These were mostly sold
in export markets.
Lucky said the company expected to receive financing from
foreign investors including the United States investment company
Newman Investment Ltd, the World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank.
No financing agreements have been signed.
The Kaltim Railway Network, if realized, will become the first
built by Indonesians.
All the railroad networks currently operating in the country
date back to the Dutch colonial era.
Samad said he hatched the idea of developing the project in
1993.
After getting support from the East Kalimantan administration,
the company teamed up with Dutch consultancy company Infraneth to
carry out a pre-feasibility study in 1994.
The same year, Senong signed a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the state railroad company Perumka to co-operate in
the railroad network under a build-operate-transfer (BOT)
contract.
Samad said the company had also signed MOUs with five state
engineering companies -- train equipment maker PT Inka, military
equipment maker PT Pindad, engineering firm PT Barata,
telecommunications equipment maker PT Inti, electronics
manufacturer PT Len -- to supply equipment to the company. All
these companies have been incorporated into the newly established
holding company PT Pakarya Industri.
State construction company PT Waskita Karya will serve as the
contractor.
Another local company, PT Bonto Bulaeng, has said it plans to
build a railroad network in East Kalimantan but the head of
Perumka's joint operations office, Suhaimi, said the company had
not yet reported to Perumka, the sole company entitled by law to
operate the country's railroad networks. (jsk)