World Bank has five point recommendation on Bali's new airport

Denpasar, Bali (Antara) - The World Bank has given five point recommendation concerning the proposed plan to build an international airport in Singaraja.

The recommendation was given by the World Bank at a recent meeting with Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan, Chairman of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) AA Ngurah Alit Wiraputra said.

The Coordinating Minister said the result of the study by the World Bank did not recommend construction of the airport now in Singaraja as the Ngurah Rai airport of Denpasar still operates below its capacity.

Currently the Ngurah Rai International Airport has a capacity of handling 35 million passengers a year and now there are only 20 million departures and arrivals a year recorded by the airport, Alit Wiraputra said here on Tuesday.

"The Ngurah Rai airport could still handle an additional 15 million passengers. Later when the number of the passengers has reached 30 million, a new airport in Bali could be proposed," he said.

The second point of the recommendation of the World Bank is for additional aprons and runways.

Alit said ideally the distance between one airport to the nearest one is around 300 kilometers to prevent unhealthy competition. Singaraja is only around 100 kilometer from Denpasar.

The third point of the recommendation is construction of access roads mainly northward (Singaraja), westward (Gilimanuk) and eastward (Karangasem) from Denpasar - either toll road or by passes.

Studies have been made for road of Gilimanuk and Singaraja, Alit said.

"The world Bank asked the provincial administration of Bali to build the access roads. There has been investors interested in the project. We ask for participation of local investor," Alit Wiraputra said.

The fourth point is for modernization of the Tanjung Benoa seaport for tourists boats and container ships to facilitate export imports. So far container cargoes from Bali are exported via Tanjung Perak of Surabaya.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs strongly expressed agreement to the expansion of the Benoa port, Alit said.

The 5tth point of the recommendation for development of the Tanah Ampo seaport in Karangasem as a special port for passenger ships linking Bali with Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara , and the port of Padang Bai would serve cargo ships.

"This is part of the sea toll road program of Pfresident Jokowi (Joko Widodo)," Alit said.

In the 2018 state budget Rp200 billion have been set aside for the Tanah Ampo port development, he said.

"The location is good and convenient for passengers. It is now up to the Karangasem district administration to prepare a design and submit proposal for the project," he said. (AS)

Earlier, Chairman of the Bali legislative assembly (DPRD) I Nyoman Adi Wiryatama indicated that a World Bank`s team of consultants would restudy the feasibility of the Singaraja`s international airport project.

"We welcome the plan of a World Bank`s team of consultants to carry out a resurvey, after a previous survey by the bank said the plan was not feasible," Adi Wiryatama said here on Monday.

The World Bank agreed to repeat the survey after receiving comprehensive explanation from Bali`s Governor Made Mangku Pastika, who explained the result of a study on "Bali Sustainable Transport and Connectivity Initiative" carried out by a World Bank`s team of consultants in Jakarta early last week.

The governor said the survey should involve Bali regional administration, Bali`s Legislative Assembly, community leaders, academicians and other related agencies.

Adi said the study should not see the project only from the business point of view as in the previous survey.

"Social, economic, cultural and other aspects should also be considered to determine the feasibility of the plan," he said.

He said an international airport in Singaraja, Buleleng, is important to cope with imbalance in economic development, which is concentrated in the southern part of the island.

Infrastructure development including construction of an international airport in Buleleng would help create equitable development in Bali, he said.

"Many Balinese, especially young ones, from the northern part of the province have moved to the south where they think life would be better," he said.

Observers said one of the reasons for promoting a second airport on Bali was Bali carries a higher load of international aircraft traffic, and is likely to soon carry more as the Indonesian regional airlines enter a period of serious regional domestic and regional route expansion and capacity. (AS)world bank