Coordinating ministers inspect Belawan port to secure staple-goods distribution before Nataru and Ramadan
The Coordinating Ministers for Food Affairs and Transportation reviewed readiness at the North Sumatra gateway, ordering early detection of distribution bottlenecks for the compressed holiday season.
Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan, accompanied by Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi, inspected Belawan port and its Bandar Deli terminal in Medan on Monday to review readiness for distributing staple goods ahead of next year's holiday season, when Christmas–New Year and Ramadan–Eid fall unusually close together. The ministers directed stakeholders to detect potential bottlenecks early and ensure that transport, stocks and prices cause no disruptions, calling for preparation to start well ahead of the season.
The visit underlines cabinet-level attention on the North Sumatra logistics gateway, which handles staple-food inflows as well as palm-oil-derived cargo — two fleet populations squarely in scope of the intensive ramp checks that started the same day and the zero-ODOL enforcement due on 1 January. Belawan is also taking delivery of new quay cranes and RTG units, part of a capacity build-out running ahead of administrative processes. No procurement or budget decisions accompanied the visit, which functioned as a seasonal readiness check rather than a programme announcement.