Ministry Of Transportation Boosts Creative Funding In National Transportation Infrastructure Development

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi. (Photo: Doc. Ministry of Transportation)

The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) continues to boost creative funding for the development of national transportation infrastructure through various cooperation schemes with various parties both domestically and abroad.

"As people of transportation, we must have the fighting spirit to make transportation facilities and infrastructure in Indonesia better. There must be courage and creativity in the midst of existing limitations," said Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi who was present online at the "Innovative Financing in Unity" (INFINITY) event organized by PT Penjaminan Infrastruktur Indonesia (PII), as quoted from Antara, Thursday, March 2.

The Ministry of Transportation noted that non-APBN creative funding through the cooperation scheme of the government and business entities (KPBU) continues to be carried out to accelerate the construction of transportation facilities and infrastructure, where there is still a fairly large difference between the need for investment in transportation infrastructure and the ability to finance the state budget.

Based on the 2020-2024 RPJMN, the need is IDR 1,288 trillion and there is still a "gap" with a funding source of APBN per year of around 40-65 percent.

The Minister of Transportation revealed that the number of KPBU projects in the Ministry of Transportation is increasing. To date, there are 17 KPBU projects consisting of two projects in the air transportation sector, four projects in the sea transportation sector, nine projects in the land and urban transportation sectors, and two projects in the railway sector.

Of the 17 projects, including the construction of the 142-kilometer Makassar-Parepare (km) train with an investment value of 67.89 million US dollars, the construction of the Patimban Port with an investment value of 1.09 billion US dollars and the Orchid Port with an investment value of 71.49 million US dollars.

In addition, the construction of the Road Road and Motor Vehicle Certification Testing Center (BPLJSKB) with an investment value of 119.22 million US dollars and the construction of Kediri Airport initiated by PT Gudang Garam Tbk with an investment value of 600 million US dollars.

"Indeed, what we are doing is still small, but in the future we will increase the KPBU transportation sector project. We will take advantage of the assets owned, including terminals, stations, airports, ports, and other assets to cooperate with investors so that their assets are more productive and can produce optimal benefits for the community," said the Minister of Transportation.

A number of efforts made by the Ministry of Transportation to improve the implementation of the KPBU project in the transportation sector, namely increasing the understanding of transportation resources (HR) regarding the "best practice" of the KPBU project, periodic evaluation to determine the priority scale of development to be cooperated.

Then, simplifying and adjusting internal regulations, propose simplifying the KPBU process, strengthening the structure of the KPBU nodes in the Ministry of Transportation, and so on.

On this occasion, the Minister of Transportation expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Finance and PT PII as the Ministry of Finance's "special mission vehicle" (SMV) which has provided guarantee support for three transportation sector KPBU projects with a value of IDR 3.9 trillion.

In addition, the Minister of Transportation together with the Minister of PUPR Basuki Hadimuljono also received an award or "special recognition" for achieving "innovative financing" in infrastructure procurement from the Ministry of Finance which was handed over directly by the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati.