Govt to build 14 special coal ports

By Adianto P. Simamora

Director General of Mineral and Coal R. Sukhyar said that the government plans to set up 14 official coal seaports in Indonesia starting next year as part of efforts to control export and prevent illegal shipment.

"We plan to build seven units of coal seaports in Kalimantan and seven units in Sumatra," he said in an opening speech at the CoalTrans Asia conference in Bali on Monday.

Under the plan, all coal destined for export should only be made through such ports.

There are currently hundreds of seaports in the country that was also used to export coal.

He said that the reason for making special ports for coal export was due to the discrepancy of export data recorded by the government, and alleged illegal shipment reaching between 50 million tons and 60 million tons per year causing huge financial loss for the state.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak