Indonesian state-owned port operator Pelindo III is set to take on four additional ports in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), following the government’s plan to transfer the management of the ports to a business entity, local reports said. 

The management transfer process of the four ports, Labuan Bajo and Reo in Flores island and Atapupu and Wini in Timor island, is expected to be completed in the middle of this year, said Pelindo III Kupang general manager Boy Rubyanto.

“The Transportation Ministry and the Finance Ministry are still talking about the transfer pattern, whether it will be an endowment from the government to the state-owned enterprise or a joint operation,” he said.

Once the transfer is completed, Pelindo III will upgrade the infrastructure of the ports before operating them as supporting hubs for the government’s sea toll road programme, Boy added.

“We will focus on repairing the docks, passenger terminals and road infrastructure at those ports,” he said. 

The company currently operates 43 ports in seven provinces mostly in eastern Indonesia, including Central Java, East Java and NTT.

Posted 11 April 2017

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