Branta Port Project To Cost Rp94 Billion

Pamekasan, E Java, July 18 (Antara) - Modernization of the Branta seaport in Pamekasan, East Java province, will cost around Rp94 trillion, Pamekasan Regent Achmad Syafii said here on Thursday. This year the central government will provide the remaining fund of Rp30 trillion to finish the project in East Java`s island of Madura. Earlier the government already disbursed Rp64 billion in two phases all from the state budget, Achmad Syafii said. The port will be mainly for ships serving the route between Pamekasan and Probolinggo in the main land of East Java. Earlier the port already facilitated shipping between Pamekasan and Probolinggo three times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. However, as the facilities were not adequate the rose was closed. "After the completion of the modernization of the port we are confident, the route would be brisk," Achmad Syafii said. The Pamekasan-Probolinggo route could be covered in two hours with much smaller cost compared with traveling by road, he said. Traveling by road via the Madura bridge will take 8 hours between Pamekasan and Probolinggo.