Indonesia: Jakarta plans to build biggest port in Southeast Asia

Agnes Anya The Jakarta Post 19 Sep 16;

Jakarta has teamed up with the Netherlands to build what an official says will be the largest integrated seaport in Southeast Asia.

Both parties are now conducting a feasibility study to assess how much the port, which is part of the controversial Jakarta Bay reclamation project, will be beneficial for the country and particularly for the city.

“We have met with officials from the Dutch government and embassy. The point is that we will receive a grant from them to conduct a feasibility study for the Port of Jakarta,” said Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Tuty Kusumawati recently.

A meeting between representatives of both parties was held last week to discuss the scope of the study, Tuty said.

In the meeting, the city’s officials asked the Dutch authorities to provide them with a business plan and issue recommendations on which industry was the most feasible to focus on in the port.

“We ask their help to make such an assessment to see whether we can make the port [the largest commercial hub in Southeast Asia],” Tuty said. “From the study, we will know the potential. That is why this study is important.”

Moreover, she added, the administration hopes that the project could be included in the revised Presidential Regulation 54/2008 on the spatial planning of Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Depok, Bekasi, Puncak and Cianjur.

It is also expected that the project could also be incorporated into the National Port Master Plan.

Tuty said she did not yet know when the project would kick off. The decision on construction is to be made soon after the study is completed, she added.

It is hoped that the study would be concluded in November when Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is scheduled to visit Indonesia.

“The prime minister will reportedly come to the country to sign several bilateral agreements,” Tuty said. “The result of the study will be handed over to us by then.”

The Port of Jakarta, Tuty explained, would be a joint project between the central government and the Jakarta administration with assistance from the Netherlands.

In the project, the central government and the administration will be represented by, respectively, state port operator Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II and city-owned developer PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro). Both companies are expected to establish a joint venture with the operator of the Port of Rotterdam.

According to media reports, the port will be built on islets O, P, Q and N of the Jakarta Bay reclamation project, which was just recently allowed to resume by the governments after months of suspension caused by legal and environmental issues.

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama reportedly came up with the plan after visiting the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.