Bappenas studying 82 projects for bids, including $20m port

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/09/2009 6:26 PM  

The government, through the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), is studying proposals for up to 82 infrastructure projects worth US$20 billion to decide whether they are ready to put up for public bidding. 

Dedy Supriyadi Priatna, Bappenas deputy chairman for infrastructure, said the proposals included 15 railway projects, 32 highway developments and 20 tap water distribution systems. 

All the projects will adopt the public-private partnership scheme, which means private stakeholders will provide the majority of the financing while the government provides the guarantee. 

"The project in Tanah Ampo is currently the most feasible *for a bidding process*. The others still need more promotion to private companies through market sounding," Dedy said last Friday, referring to a $20 million cruise ship port project on the resort island of Bali. 

The port will be located in Tanah Ampo, about 50 kilometers east of Bali's provincial capital of Denpasar. 

The project is already underway and is 20 percent complete, according to Regent I Wayan Geredeg. 

Once complete, the port will be able to accommodate cruise ships up to 350 meters long with a maximum passenger capacity of 5,000. 

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said the port was scheduled to be opened by the end of this year, adding he hoped it would help expand Bali's crucial tourism industry. 

The government is this year intensifying infrastructure projects to help stimulate the economy amid the severe fallout from the current global economic meltdown that is taking its toll on the country. 

Last week, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati told legislators that the economy would likely grow by 4.7 percent this year, slower than the estimated 6.2 percent last year, but is still within the 4.5 to 5.5 percent range initially estimated. 

Dedy said that overall, based on preliminary discussions with some interested investors, a government guarantee was what the investors wanted the most to provide business certainty. 

To be able to do that, he went on, the government was drafting a revision to a 2005 presidential regulation to accommodate the business sector's wishes. 

Dedy also said the revision was needed because there were still a lot of issues within the current regulations that could hinder infrastructure development, including the minimum number of bid participants and transfer of bid winners' ownerships. 

Bappenas has recently submitted the proposal on the revision to the Finance Ministry, Dedy added. 

"*The Finance Ministry's* head of fiscal policy affairs, Anggito Abimanyu, told me the ministry has agreed to some of our revision proposals," he said. 

"I believe we can complete the revision by the end of February." 

Under the proposed amendment, a bid will be allowed go ahead even if it has fewer than three participants, while the transfer of tender winners' ownerships will also be allowed under certain conditions. 

Both are prohibited under the existing presidential regulation. (hdt)