TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo said he would continue to visit the capital of the archipelago in East Kalimantan after stepping down as president. Jokowi even said he would go there regularly.
“Oh, it will be a routine (to IKN) later,” said Jokowi to media crew at IKN after the inauguration of the State Palace on Friday, October 11 2024, which was quoted from Jokowi’s audio recording received by Tempo.
Jokowi emphasized that IKN development does not need to be done in a hurry. But IKN development must still be in accordance with the specified time targets.
At IKN, Jokowi only inaugurated the State Palace. The former mayor of Solo handed over the inauguration of the Garuda Palace or President’s Office to Prabowo Subianto, who will be inaugurated as president for 2024-2029 on October 20.
“We hope that later large state activities, which require large spaces, can be carried out at IKN,” said Jokowi.
Development at IKN began after the People’s Representative Council passed the Archipelago Capital Law in 2022. The Jokowi government targets the construction of the IKN to be completed by the end of this year. But until now the development has not been completed.
The State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) disbursed for IKN development from 2022 to this year has reached IDR 72 trillion. According to the initial plan, the budget allocation for IKN development sourced from the APBN was only 20 percent of the total development costs there, which reached IDR 466.9 trillion. The DPR has also approved additional IKN development for next year amounting to IDR 27.8 trillion.
The Jokowi government also initially planned to move the state civil apparatus to IKN this year. But this plan was not realized.
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President Jokowi emphasized that the decision to move the National Capital from Jakarta to the archipelago was in accordance with the provisions. He also claimed that the IKN project had received the approval of all the people.
“So this is not just the President’s decision, but also the decision of all Indonesian people represented by all members of the DPR in Jakarta. “So that there is no misperception that this is President Jokowi’s project, right,” said Jokowi in his remarks at the 2024 Baznas National Coordination Meeting, IKN State Palace on Wednesday 25 September.
Jokowi handed over to Prabowo Subianto to sign the presidential decree regarding the transfer of the country’s capital from Jakarta to IKN. “Yes, it should be like that, (signed by) the new president, Pak Prabowo,” said Jokowi at IKN, quoted from his press statement, Sunday, October 6. “Everything takes time. Even moving house is complicated like that, this is moving the capital.”
Jokowi’s claim of the approval of all the people is not entirely true. Since the beginning of discussions on the IKN Draft Law, various groups have criticized the plan to move the country’s capital. They consider that moving the country’s capital is not urgent. Because the transfer will suck up a lot of budget from the APBN.
A total of 16 organizations that are members of the East Kalimantan civil society coalition have rejected the construction of the IKN. They consider that the construction of the IKN has confiscated residents’ land and customary land. They also repeatedly demonstrated against the development.
“Rejecting efforts to forcefully evict local communities and indigenous communities from their land under any pretext,” said the representative of the East Kalimantan Civil Society Coalition, Mareta Sari, in a written statement on March 13.
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