TEMPO.CO, Banyuwangi – Abdul Kadir, the head of the Integrated Permit Service Body (BPPT) of Banyuwangi regency, East Java, said publicly-listed cement company PT Indocement Tunggal Perkasa, the producer of Tiga Roda cement, planned to construct a packaging factory in Banyuwangi with an investment worth Rp1 trillion.

Abdul said the nation’s second largest cement firm had acquired seven-eight hectares of land in Bulusan village, Kalipuro district near the Bali strait where the factory would stand. He added the factory would come equipped with a harbor to accommodate ships distributing cement.

“Indocement has pinpointed a location near deep sea,” Kadir said on Monday, March 23, 2015.

Kadir said the existence of the factory would allow the company to slash its production cost, as so far Indocement had been transporting its cement from Surabaya. This factory will later cater to demands for Tiga Roda cement in the country’s eastern parts.

BPPT permit division head Trisetia added Indocement had applied for a construction permit in December last year, and that the company had now pocketed spatial planning recommendations from the regency’s development planning agency. “They are now still at the land use stage,” he said.

Prior to Indocement, cement firms PT Semen Indonesia and PT Semen Bosowa had constructed their packaging factories in Banyuwangi—with Bosowa earmarking Rp800 billion for its factory, which is scheduled to kick off operation in May 2015.

IKA NINGTYAS