Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - The Batam Management Board (BP Batam) needs Rp3 trillion in budget funds to turn Tanjung Sauh island into a container port to support Batam as a free-trade zone, an official said.

Tanjung Sauh was an alternative to the development of container port after the tender winner of Batuampar port construction canceled the project, the board`s one-stop service director, Dwi Djoko Wiwoho said here on Monday.

"Right now we are looking for an investor who is ready to finance the construction of Tanjung Sauh port. It is unlikely for BP Batam to construct the port which will require the high amount of investment on its own," he said.

The construction of Tanjung Sauh port into a container port was canceled because there had been many shipbuilding industries and residential areas around it. Therefore, it was difficult to develop it into a container port, he said.

Yet BP Batam would continue to offer Batuampar to investors to turn it into a container port, he said.

"Tanjung Sauh has a vast area of land. Only a few families are now inhabiting it. So it is easier to develop it into a container port

although this will be costly. But if any investor still wishes to develop Batuampar we will offer it according to the initial plan," he said.

According to the initial plan, BP Batam aims to develop Batuampar into a modern port capable of accommodating 1.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) per year.
(Uu.S012/HAJM)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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