Jaldhi to start dredging Batanghari River in May
Thursday, March 27 2014 - 12:57 AM WIB
India-based logistic service company PT Jaldhi Marine Services is expected to start dredging the Batanghari River in Jambi to keep waterways navigable which would pave way for miners to transport coal including to Jambi Coal Terminal.
"We plan the dredging to start in May," Jaldhi's President Director Valkyn Clive Dmello told Petromindo.com in an interview on Wednesday.
The company is currently waiting for required permits for the dredging activity.
Reports say the water surface in Batanghari River, the longest river in Sumatra, was below 100 centimeters recently due to low rainfall, making miners unable to transport their coal.
He said that the dredging activity would only be made in specific locations which had been studied to ensure among other things that there were no fishing activities in the area.
The Batanghari River stretches for almost 500 kilometers from its upper reaches in West Sumatra to its downstream area in Jambi.
Jambi provincial administration has imposed a moratorium on the use of public roads for coal hauling since Jan. 1, 2014.
Transportation snags is one of key problems in developing coal mining in Sumatra Island, including Jambi.
Jaldhi is a member of India's Bothra Group, a company providing end-to-end logistic services including port and inland logistic for about 15 million tons of bulk cargoes per annum in various Indian ports.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak