Cikarang Dry Port Starts Operations In April
“The Cikarang Dry Port (CDP) is the first of its kind in Indonesia and is expected to start operating in April”, said S. D. Darmono, President Commissioner of PT Cikarang Inland Port, the company that manages the facility.
The development of CDP is estimated to cost up to over Rp 500 billion and will be done in several stages. The first phase is to build 10 hectares of port area as part of the original plan that covers 70 hectares. In its entirety, the port will take up to 150 hectares of land, covering the port area and 80 hectares of logistics area.
Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono in a working visit to CDP said that CDP will play a very important role for the import-export business in Indonesia. Also, there are seven industrial estates in Cikarang that contribute 60-65% of total exports and imports through Tanjung Priok port.
In Jababeka there are approximately 2,500 companies, including Mattel, Unilever, Samsung, and others.
“To date, Tanjung Priok is still the main destination for imported good. If the dry port could start operations in April, CDP can be the final destination port. This will make the export-import business efficient”, Said Bambang.
He said that Jababeka and the Cikarang Dry Port will be a model for the implementation of special economic zones, especially in terms of handling logistics.
CDP uses two modes of transportation, namely trains and trucks. However, trains from CDP are still unable to reach Tanjung Priok because the railway from Pasoso station to the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), Tanjung Priok, is not yet available. So the logistics have to transit at Sungai Lagoa station.
“From there, it will continue to Tanjung Priok using trucks”, said Noor Yusuf, Director of CDP.
Bambang Susantono said the main obstacle of the CDP road system development to Tanjung Priok is the unresolved land acquisition for both railways and roads connecting Jababeka with national, provincial or district roads. Uncompleted land acquisition for railway lines are in the area of hill 21 and 22.
“There are about 40 families still living there and the value of acquisitions is around Rp 30 billion”,said Bambang.
That access is the responsibility of the Bekasi local government. For that, Vice Minister of Public Works Hermanto Dardak urged the Bekasi local government to immediately provide high-quality road access in order to bolster Bekasi’s economy.
The MoU signed in 2006 calls for Jababeka to provide land, the Ministry of Public Works to build buildings, the Ministry of Transportation to issue transportation permits, and the Bekasi local government road access.
“So we are expecting the container trains from Cikarang Dry Port (CDP) to Station Pasoso (Tanjung Priok) to operate this year”, said Bambang.
He added that based on data and the progress report, the railway will start to operate next April. “All fittings and preparation are ready, but the installation pf the project and the rail bed is still in process”, he said.
He said that the most important thing is to see container trains reducing the burden on roads and facilitating the flow of logistics distribution.
“If we have reliable container trains, the burden on our roads will be eased,” he said.