Pressing Productivity, Ports In Bangka Will Be Developed

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) will arrange ports in Bangka Belitung Province to be more productive and it is hoped that it will further facilitate the movement of passengers and goods.

"We are planning with the Governor of Babel to remap the existing ports in Bangka Belitung Province to be developed more productively," said Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi as reported by Antara, Sunday, July 3.

The Minister of Transportation said that on Bangka Island there are a number of ports for both passengers and goods, including the Sadai Ferry Port, Pangkal Balam Port, Tanjung Ular Port and Belinyu Port.

“If we can focus on developing it in one particular place, the results will have a good impact. Here we have commodities such as palm oil, tin and others that have the potential to optimize shiploads,” he said.

He revealed, one of the efforts made to make ports more productive is to collaborate in management and development with the private sector and BUMD (Regional-Owned Company).

"So the central government provides management cooperation (KSP) to local governments. Then the Regional Government cooperates with BUMD and the private sector on a business to business (B to B) basis," he said.

On the same occasion, Acting The Governor of Bangka Belitung, Ridwan Djamaluddin, agreed to arrange the existing port to increase its productivity.

"We at the provincial government level together with regents and mayors will make integrated plans so that ports are more productive, effective and efficient," he said.

Sadai Harbor is located in Tukak Sadai District, South Bangka Regency. This port connects the islands of Bangka and Belitung.

PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) serves ro-ro ship crossing routes from Sadai Port to Tanjung Rhu Port, in Belitung or vice versa, which can be reached in approximately 12 hours.

Two ships serving this route are KMP Gorare which can carry around 80 passengers and 14 vehicles, and KMP Menumbing Raya with a capacity of 150 people and 20 vehicles.

Meanwhile, Tanjung Ular Sea Port, located in Muntok District, West Bangka Regency, is currently under construction.

The progress of the construction of the port which has an 80x10 meter pier has reached 94 percent and it is hoped that by the end of this year all work can be completed to facilitate goods/logistics connectivity.

Belinyu Harbor, is approximately 90 km from Pangkal Pinang City. This port has a pier length of 101 m and a width of 15 m and has a passenger terminal with an area of 400 m2.

Also present at the review were the Director General of Sea Transportation Arif Toha, Director of River, Lake and Crossing Transportation Directorate General of Land Transportation Junaidi, and Deputy Regent of South Bangka Debby Vita Dewi.