Jakarta, Aug 17 (Antara) - The government has launched an integrated sea and air toll road program to enable smooth delivery of goods to Papua's remote areas and to cut the high price disparities with those in other regions of the country.
In order to reach mountainous and remote areas in Papua, the people had so far used pioneer flight transportation with subsidized tickets. However, this has no impact on goods whose prices have high disparities with other regions due to transportation constraints.
Hence, the government has launched an integrated air and sea toll road program. Through the Ministry of Transportation, the government this year earmarked a subsidy fund of Rp21 billion to make the air toll road program a success.
The program has shown a positive impact, particularly in the price of cement. Residents in the mountainous areas of Papua will now be able to purchase cement at a price far lower than the previous price. In Puncak Jaya District, for example, the price per 50 kilogram of a sack of cement has dropped from between Rp1 million and Rp2 million to only Rp500 thousand.
The new price was effective from Aug 11, 2017. Besides, in Puncak Jaya, the price is also effective in six other districts of Jayawijaya, Tolikara, Lanny Jaya, Nduga, Yalimo, and Central Mamberamo.
In order to support the air toll road program and to curb price disparities in Papua, the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) has dispatched 10 tons of cement from Timika to Wamena on Thursday (Aug 17).
TNI AU airbase commandant in Timika, Lieutenant Colonel Agustinus Gogot Winardi stated on Wednesday that 10 tons of cement were transported using a Hercules plane, which marked the first Timika-Wamena flight of the air bridge program in Papua.
Winardi noted that the maiden TNI-AU air toll road flight was deliberately carried out on Thursday to coincide with the 72nd anniversary of the Indonesian Independence Day on Aug 17. "The momentum is a form of support of the Air Force for the implementation of the air toll program in Papua to coincide with the independence anniversary day," he remarked.
The 10 tons of cement, which were flown to Wamena from Timika, were earlier transported through the sea toll lane from Makassar, South Sulawesi, by the Sea Toll Ship Program. The success of the delivery of goods to remote areas in Papua should be supported by the integration of air and sea toll programs.
Air Transportation Director General Agus Santoso told a discussion in Jakarta last March that the air toll program would be integrated with the sea toll program, which had been implemented since 2015. The sea toll program could only deliver logistics to coastal regions of Papua such as Timika and Sorong.
According to Santoso, the air toll program will first focus on mountainous regions in Papua, such as Wamena, Timika, Yahukimo, Ilaga, and Marauke. "We will develop the air toll program, particularly in Papua. We have learnt that when the sea toll is operated, the prices go down by 20 percent. It happens only in coastal regions, while in remote areas, the price disparities still remain high. Therefore, we will distribute cargos by airplanes," the director general stated.
Regarding the transportation of cement from Timika to Wamena, the TNI AU used a Hercules aircraft, which is able to transport about 12 tons once a week. The cement was previously dispatched through the sea toll from Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The delivery of cement to Papua is being carried out in cooperation with five state-owned companies (SOEs).
Marketing Director and Supply Chain Semen Indonesia, Ahyanizzaman, revealed in a press statement on Thursday (Aug 10) that the cement was a product of a subsidiary firm of PT Semen Indonesia, namely Semen Tonasa.
The first delivery was done from Makassar Port to Timika, with a volume of 312 tons. The dispatch of the product from Timika to Wamena is carried out once a week by the TNI AU using Hercules aircraft.
"It is expected that logistics cost to Wemena could be reduced by using Hercules, since there is no land access to the region but only by air," Ahyanizzaman said.
He explained that other aircraft are also being prepared to support the program, namely commercial cargo plane TriMG, which is able to fly some 31 tons per day. In Wamena, PT Semen Indonesia and PT Perusahaan Perdangan Indonesia will conduct supervision of the cement distributed to the region.
"For the distribution of cement to the end users, PT Perusahaan Perdagangan Indonesia will cooperate with local firms, which will be in charge of delivering cement to districts through land lanes," he noted.
The districts include Jayawijaya, Puncak Jaya, Tolikara, Lanny Jaya, Nduga, Yalimo, and Central Membramo Tengah. The disparity of cement price between those in Java and Papua is high. The cement price in Java is about Rp60 thousand per sack, while it reached Rp1 to Rp2 million in the mountainous areas in Papua.
"The high disparity is due to transportation constraints. Therefore, by cooperating with SOEs, the high logistics cost could be reduced," he concluded.***3***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 17-08-2017 17:16 |
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