Pelindo I to start improvement work on five ports this year

“The five ports are under the management of Pelindo I; thus, those ports will become our strategic programmes this year,” Pelindo I spokesperson Eriansyah was quoted as saying.

The five ports are Malahayati Port in Aceh Besar regency, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, Kuala Tanjung Port in Batubara regency in North Sumatra, Dumai Port in Dumai, Riau, and Batam Port in Batam, Riau Islands.

Eriansyah said Pelindo I has also been assigned to develop Bagansiapi-siapi Port in Rokan Hilir regency, Riau, which is a key port because of its strategic location on the Malacca Strait, and Gunung Sitoli Port in Nias, North Sumatra, which has direct access to the Indian Ocean, however these development projects will be de-prioritised.

“As the construction projects of Bagansiapi-siapi and Gunung Sitoli ports will not use State Budget (APBN) funds, referring to our master plan, we have decided that these two ports are not part of our projections in this year,” said Eriansyah.

At the end of 2014, the transportation ministry handed over the task to develop 15 commercial ports in 2015 to state-enterprise companies. The transportation ministry will focus on work to develop non-commercial ports in remote areas to accelerate the development of transportation infrastructure.

“This new policy is part of our effort to increase accessibility, accelerate the balanced distribution of transportation infrastructure and to open isolation and improve the infrastructure of border areas and the outermost islands,” the transportation minister’s expert staff for public information, Hadi Djuraid said.