Bali Building Seaport For Large Cruise Ships

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - Bali province is building  a new sea port for large cruise ships  slated to be  ready for operation by the end of this year, a local official said.

"The provincial government has disbursed additional construction funds totaling 4.0 billion rupiahs from this year's budget for the construction of additional facilities at the new port," said I Made Santha, a Bali provincial government spokesman said here on Saturday.

The new seaport was located at Tanah Ampo in Karangasem district  on the eastern tip of Bali. The port has designed to be able of accommodating large cruise ships. Its pier would be at least  200 meters long to serve ships carrying between 3,000-5,000 tourists each.

The main pier of the new port has already been completed and is currently undergoing  finishing touches, he added.

The new port was actually a national project, said Made Santha, as the largest portion of the funding had come from the central government's budget of 92.2 billion rupiahs, with ab  additional budget provided by the  Transport Ministry and Public Works Ministry.

The bulk of the funding has already been spent on feasibility study works, the physical construction of the main pier of 154 long and 12 meters wide and the construction of an access road to the port.

In an effort to expedite the completion of the new tourism facility, Bali provincial government has allocated a total fund of 18.7 billion rupiahs to cover up the cost of additional expenditure on land appropriation and construction of electricity and clean water networks.

Made Santha said Bali expects to receive a tourist spillover from Singapore which is visited by at least 300 cruise ships annually.(*)