JAKARTA: Eight companies plus a local government have participated in a construction project to build a port in Sorong, West Papua, that will require IDR700 billion investments.The companies involved have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture to build the port that will have a capacity of 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year. The project, initiated by state-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) II, is expected to start in early 2012.The companies in the joint-venture willl be PT Samudera Indonesia Tbk, PT Meratus Line, PT Tempuran Emas Tbk, PT Pelindo IV, PT Salam Pacific Indonesia Lines, PT Tanto Intim Line, PT Pembangunan Perumahan and the district government of Sorong.Pelindo II will soon clear and acquire the land for the project, so the port construction can start in early next year, President Director Richard J. Lino told Bisnis. By the end of 2013 it will have been completed,Later, the Sorong Port will become a regional hub to accommodate containers which so far have been going to 20 different ports in Sulawesi to Papua.Today, Sorong Port has a very limited capacity to accommodate containers flows which keep growing from year to year.The container flow in eastern region of Indonesia in 2010 achieved 1.21 million TEUs, and 1.03 TEUs in 2009, according to data from Pelindo II.After the project completes, the Sorong port will cut the current shipping cost of IDR19 million per TEU, Pelindo II's Richard said.Meanwhile, Sorong Regent Stephanus Malak said the local regency government has earmarked 10,000 hectares of land to support the port construction.For the first stage, the government has started the administrative process to use 3,000 ha of the total allocated land.Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said he supports the consortium's plan to build a regional port hub in Sorong. Papua is a rich region. Its amazing, he said.(t01/msw)

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