Samarinda (ANTARA Kaltim) - Construction of Kalimantan`s first railroad would start in December this year.
Construction would begin in the section linking Tabang in the regency of Kutai Kartanegara and Lubuk Tutung in the regency of Kutai Timur in East Kalimantan.
The section is designed mainly for the transport coal and palm oil, which are the main commodities in the region, East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak said here on Tuesday.
The railway will transport coal and palm oil from Tabang and nearby areas to the Special Economic Zone of Maloy Batuta Trans Kalimantan in the regency of Kutai Timur,.
In Maloy, work is in progress to build an international port to be integrated with the industrial estate.
The ground breaking of the railway project was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on 19 November 2015 .
The Tabang- Lubuk Tutung section would be the first part of a trans Kalimantan railway across East Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan to be built by a Russian investor, the Russian Railways.
The project will cost around Rp72 trillion in three phases.
The next phase after the Tabang-Lubuk Tutung section would be one between the regency of Kutai Barat and regency of Penajam Paser Utara,where an industrial area - Buluminung industrial center - would be built.
At the same time, infrastructure would be built for the Buluminung industrial area including port and a number of techno parks.
The governor said there would be a number of techno parks to be built in 2016 including one planned under the program of the regional administration for nuclear power study and training with support from the central government.
"Lands for the entire projects have been available thanks to cooperation from a number of companies in Gunung Bayan, Kutai Barat and Lubuk Tutung," he said. (*)
