Government Prepares Cattle Ships This Year
16 May 2013 20:55 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Transportation Ministry has decided to modify two ships this year and manufacture two new ships in 2014 to accommodate cattle transportation. The statement was made by Bobby Mamahit, Director General of Sea Transportation during a press conference on Thursday, May 16.
"On the long run, Pelni [state shipping company] will prepare larger vessels for transporting cattle," said Bobby.
Currently, Pelni is capable of transporting meat using containers equipped with cooling system. The Transportation Ministry hope that these measures will be enough to address meat scarcity issues.
"To provide new ships, we've allocated Rp 60 billion (US$6,15 million) in the 2014 revised state budget," Bobby said. Furthermore, modifying the Papua Tiga and Daraki Nusa, ships that will be converted into cattle transport ships, cost approximately Rp 15 billion (US$1,53 million) each.
MARIA YUNIAR
