Coal transported for Suralaya power plant drops to 6.5 million in 2002

State railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) said Wednesday total volume of coal it transported from South Sumatra to Lampung would reach only 6.5 million tons in 2002, down from last year?s 7.1 million tons.

Coal carried by KAI to Lampung was meant for Suralaya power plant in Banten on Java Island. State coal miner PT Batubara Bukit Asam (PTBA) supplied the coal from its mining sites in Muara Enim, South Sumatra.

The spokesman of the South Sumatra office of KAI, Basnawi, was quoted by Kompas daily as saying that worn out railway tracks had been the main factor behind the drop in the volumes of coal transported by KAI. Basnawi said some 66 kilometers of railway tracks between Muara Enim and Tarahan in Lampung had worn out, and this reduced the speed of trains.

Basnawi said the railway tracks had been in poor condition since 2000, and that no efforts had been made to repair them.

?The condition of the railway tracks would get even worse if the central government does not take measures to repair them,? Basnawi said.

In October, KAI signed an agreement with PTBA to transport coal from Muara Enim to Lampung. Under the agreement, KAI would charge PTBA Rp37,000 (US$=Rp8,890) for each ton of coal if the railway operator transports 8.5 million tons of coal annually. The tariff will be lowered if the volumes transported annually are less than 8.5 million tons. (*)