Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in Johor Baru Sigit Suryantoro Widiyanto giving a briefing during a media gathering on Jan 29, 2024.
JOHOR BARU: Indonesia hopes to introduce a ferry route for cargo trucks this year to boost trade between the island of Batam and Johor, says the republic’s envoy.
Its Consul General Johor Baru, Sigit Suryantoro Widiyanto, said talks are ongoing between Batam and Johor to find ways to implement the plan.
“Opening a route for the roll-on, roll-off (RORO) ferry between Batam and Johor is part of our economic plans for 2024 and discussions have started to make this a reality.
“The RORO ferry does not transport passengers; it is a mode of transport for trucks to carry shipments from Johor to Batam and vice versa, which will boost trade ties between both localities.
“It will benefit small and medium enterprises, which could find containers a costly option to bring their products to an overseas market,” he said during a media gathering at the Consulate General here yesterday.
Sigit added that the points proposed are Batam’s Batu Ampar Port and Johor’s Tanjung Belungkor Ferry Terminal in Kota Tinggi.
“Both locations have existing facilities and all we need are some enhancements,” he said, adding that the travel time between Batu Ampar and Tanjung Belungkor is about two hours.
For a start, Sigit said they aim to fit up to 70 cargo trucks into a RORO ferry each way.
He noted that in the southern region, which his office oversees, Johor recorded the highest amount of exports and imports to Indonesia from January to November last year at RM23.6bil and RM17.3bil respectively.
Other states such as Melaka, Negri Sembilan and Pahang are also under the consulate’s purview.
In the first 10 months of 2023, Johor recorded tourism arrivals of 1.49 million from Indonesia, the second highest after Singapore.
“If the cargo route is successful, our second priority will be to allow cars to utilise the RORO ferry to further spur the tourism sector in both areas,” he added.
Separately, Sigit said a total of 119,491 Indonesians in Johor, Melaka, Negri Sembilan and Pahang are eligible to cast their votes in the upcoming Indonesian general election.
“Out of the total, 2,684 voters have registered to cast their vote at the Consulate office in Johor Baru on Feb 11 while the remaining voters in the four states will cast their votes via drop boxes.
“Our staff and observers will go to premises such as factories and plantations from Feb 5 until Feb 11 to enable Indonesian employees to exercise their right to vote,” he said.
He added that a total of 432 drop boxes had been prepared for the voting exercise and each box could accommodate 300 ballots.
Indonesia will hold its largest simultaneous election on Feb 14.
Voters will cast their ballots to elect the next president, vice-president, lawmakers and councillors.
