TEMPO.CO, Makassar - Construction of the first phase of Makassars New Port (MNP) has been 27 percent completed, an official of the state owned port operator Pelindo IV said.
"Completion has exceeded prediction of 25 percent after the project was commissioned by President Joko Widodo a year ago," a director of Pelindo IV Susantono said here on Friday.
The MNP project is part of the sea toll program of the government, Susantono said.
He said so far Rp48 billion had been spent on the project, which is estimated to cost Rp326 billion for the first phase of construction.
He said the first phase of construction is to be completed in 2018 to be continued with the second phase that would bring the total cost to Rp1.8 trillion from the state budget.
Implementation of the project followed a survey made in 1998 which said that in the 2,000s, the Makassar port would have a designed capacity to accommodate 400,000 TEUS of goods.
However, by the end of 2015 , the capacity already reached 560,000 TEUS exceeding the designed capacity. The capacity is even expected to expand further to 600,000 TEUS in 2016-2017.
Considering the developments, it is necessary to build an integrated port of MNP. Apart from having larger accommodating capacity, the port would have facility to connect it with toll road and Trans-Sulawesi railway station.
Construction of the MNP project is in line with the Presidential regulation No.3 of 2016 on acceleration of infrastructure development.
ANTARA
