Angkasa Pura

Reducing the Impact of the Tsunami, PT Angkasa Pura II Planted Thousands of Evergreen Pine Trees in Padang Ketaping Beach

Jakarta - PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) began planting thousands of sea cypress trees on the Ketaping beach, Padang, West Sumatra on Monday, 11 November 2019. The activities became part of the Partnership and Community Development Program (PKBL) of the company, which aims to minimize the impact of the tsunami on residents around Ketaping Beach.

In accordance with the agreement with Andalas University which will assist its implementation, the activities of planting sea pine trees on an area of ​​110,000 m2 in the Ketaping Coastal area were carried out in two stages.

First Phase, as many as 3,125 stems / trees were planted this year with a maintenance period of three months. Similar planting activities will continue next year, the Second Phase by planting 1,875 stems / trees.

So that, in total, the number of sea evergreen trees planted by the company in Ketaping Beach is 5,000 stems / tree. To ensure the program is implemented, Angkasa Pura II has allocated a PKBL budget of Rp.762.5 million.

"Angkasa Pura II, together with BNPB, planted sea cypress trees on Ketaping Beach. We are grateful to BNPB and the Regional Government for being given the opportunity to contribute to reducing the impact if a tsunami disaster occurs on this coast, "he said
Director of Finance Angkasa Pura II, Bayu Rafisukmawan.

According to Bayu, sea cypress trees are known to be able to minimize the impact of tsunami disasters such as shrimp, pule and mangrove evergreen trees. The larger the size of the sea evergreen tree, the more effective it will be in reducing the impact of the tsunami.

"We hope that after this initial planting, maintenance can be carried out so that thousands of sea pine trees that we plant can grow optimally and can act as effective natural strongholds," Bayu Rafisukmawan said.

In line with the Cemara Laut planting program, all parties were also asked to maintain the cleanliness of Ketaping Beach, which is one of the leading tourist attractions in Padang Pariaman Regency.

"By planting sea pine trees, we want to make Ketaping Beach become more attractive and shady. This activity is also a form of Angkasa Pura II's social responsibility as the manager of the Minangkabau International Airport to the people of Padang, "he explained.

The Minangkabau International Airport is the sixth busiest airport out of 19 airports managed by Angkasa Pura II, after Soekarno-Hatta, Kualanamu, Halim Perdanakusuma, Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II, and Supadio.

Bayu Rafisukmawan ensured that Angkasa Pura II's efforts to improve airport services to the people of West Sumatra continued. One of them is by doing various developments at the Minangkabau International Airport, in order to expand flight connectivity for the people of West Sumatra, especially Padang.

"We plan to develop the passenger terminal at Minangkabau Airport to 5.7 million passengers per year, from the current capacity of 2.3 million passengers," Bayu said.