Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir said that the Ministry of SOEs has improved efficiency by cancelling the construction project of terminal 4 of Soekarno Hatta Airport, Cengkareng, Tangerang, and replacing it with improvements to terminals 1, 2, and 3.
According to Erick, the plan to add terminal 4 requires a large fund of IDR 14 trillion. He also moved quickly by conducting a comprehensive study of the plan and finding a much more efficient option.
“We make sure all projects are efficient, and the benchmarks are clear, not wasteful. Therefore, we decided to cancel the construction of Terminal 4,” he said, as reported by Kumparan.
This efficiency measure was also applied at Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali, which increased its capacity to 32 million passengers after renovation.
Erick added that the Ministry of SOEs continues to strive for efficiency in projects undertaken by state-owned companies, which also reduces opportunities for fraud.
Improvements at Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali were also made
Improving airport facilities is a concrete step toward improving Indonesia’s tourism sector. Besides Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Erick will also improve I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali, as one of the entrances for tourists from abroad.
“For Bali airport, we are also doing efficiency, namely by renovating, so that the hope is that passenger capacity can grow from 24 million to 32 million without building a new airport,” said Erick.
However, he welcomes any discourse on constructing a new airport on the Island of the Gods. Erick said this is one of the efforts to meet Bali’s tourist target, which is predicted to reach 50 million to 100 million in the future.
President Jokowi initiated the Terminal 4 construction project
In 2020, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) ordered the construction of the fourth terminal, Terminal 4, of Soekarno-Hatta Airport. At that time, Jokowi targeted having Terminal 4 in place by 2023.
Constructing the new Terminal is necessary to anticipate the surge in passengers. Jokowi’s desire regarding the construction of Terminal 4 was conveyed when inaugurating four facilities at Soekarno Hatta Airport, namely Terminal 3, VIP Building, Runway 3 and East-Connection Taxiway.
At that time, Jokowi said that the density of the number of airplane passengers at Soekarno Hatta Airport had begun to increase. For this reason, to anticipate a surge in the number of passengers in the future, Jokowi ordered the immediate construction of the new Terminal.
In this regard, Jokowi targets the completion of Terminal 4 of Soekarno Hatta Airport by the end of 2022 or early 2023.
However, Jokowi’s wish finally ran aground. BUMN Minister Erick Thohir confirmed that the construction worth IDR 14 trillion was cancelled.
