Pelindo, West Kalimantan discuss toll road plan to support Kijing Port

State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) and the West Kalimantan provincial government are exploring plans to develop a toll road to support operations at Kijing Port, as part of efforts to strengthen the facility’s role as a regional and national logistics hub.

Pelindo President Director Achmad Muchtasyar said the company is committed to accelerating the development of Kijing Port as an economic driver not only for West Kalimantan but also for Indonesia more broadly.

“We see Kijing as an engine to drive economic growth, not only in West Kalimantan but nationally. Therefore, this potential must be supported by key infrastructure, especially adequate road access for container transport,” Achmad said after a meeting with West Kalimantan Governor Ria Norsan in Pontianak on Friday.

According to Achmad, Kijing Port has strong prospects to handle logistics flows and export-import activities, particularly container services. However, its optimization requires sufficient supporting infrastructure, mainly a dedicated toll road to accommodate heavy container trucks.

He welcomed the provincial government’s full backing for the toll road plan, adding that Pelindo and the local administration are seeking investors to finance the project.

“Thankfully, the Governor fully supports this plan. We are optimistic that we can secure investors to build the toll road to support Kijing Port. The situation is conducive, and we believe this can proceed well,” he said.

Read also: President Jokowi officiates Kijing Port

Discussions about relocating container traffic from Pontianak’s Dwikora Port have surfaced repeatedly due to congestion and accident risks caused by container trucks passing through city roads. Governor Ria Norsan said strengthening Kijing Port would provide a long-term solution, but emphasized that a toll road is a prerequisite for safely and effectively diverting container flows.

“To ensure Kijing Port can properly receive container cargo, the toll road access is essential. The heavy loads carried by container trucks will be safer on a toll road. Using public roads is not adequate and increases the risk of congestion and accidents,” Norsan said, describing the limited access as a “bottleneck” that must be resolved for the port to operate at full capacity.

Currently, Kijing Port has begun operations and serves non-container exports such as bulk and certain cargoes, but international container services are not yet running at optimal levels due to infrastructure constraints.

Kijing Port was inaugurated in August 2022 by then President Joko Widodo. Built at a cost of Rp2.9 trillion, the international port in Mempawah regency was designed to handle up to 500,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, making it the largest port in Kalimantan.

The facility is intended to replace the older port in Pontianak, which has limited capacity, and to improve connectivity for key regional commodities such as crude palm oil, aluminum and bauxite.

The provincial government and Pelindo said they will continue coordinating to accelerate the toll road project through an investment scheme, with the aim of transforming Kijing Port into an international logistics gateway while easing container traffic congestion in Pontianak.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak