P

resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo pledged on Wednesday to walk the talk in fulfilling his infrastructure development promises, amid worries among investors over the sluggish realization of infrastructure spending.

Over the next few days, Jokowi is scheduled to commence the construction of several infrastructure projects, a move that the President claimed showed that he was not a '€œtalk-only'€ leader, as critics have suggested.

'€œIf someone doubts that my talk is cheap, if they have questions on why [the infrastructure projects] are yet to begin, then they must realize that there are administrative issues that have to be completed first,'€ he stated.

'€œTomorrow [Thursday] we will perform the ground-breaking of the trans-Sumatra toll road connecting Lampung to Aceh,'€ he said. '€œOur focus is clear: infrastructure development.'€

Jokowi is betting big on infrastructure development in his mission to drive domestic economic growth to 7 percent amid a global slowdown, with the President inheriting an economy that last year grew at a mere 5 percent, the lowest level in five years.

To achieve the objective, Jokowi has boosted government capital expenditure (capex) funds '€” a spending allocation that includes ministerial investments and infrastructure projects '€” to around Rp 290 trillion in the revised 2015 state budget, compared with Rp 156 trillion in the original budget formulated by then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

But economists have said that some infrastructure projects have got off to a sluggish start. According to the most recent Finance Ministry data, the budget disbursement rate for capex funds for the 10 ministries with the biggest fund allocations stood at only 2.8 percent as of April 28.

The capex fund disbursement rate at the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry and the Transportation Ministry '€” which together bear most responsibility for government infrastructure projects '€” stood at 2.8 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

On the sluggish realization of infrastructure projects, Jokowi explained: '€œThe administrative and auction processes are still ongoing. In April, May, June, July, we should see more ground-breaking of housing, farming and seaport infrastructure projects.'€

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said on Wednesday that at least Rp 100 trillion of infrastructure projects would commence construction in June, including a highway connecting Bakauheni and Terbanggi Besar in Lampung, another highway linking Palembang and Indralaya in South Sumatra and a seaport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, all of which would be handled by state-run firms.

She predicted total investment from state-run companies in infrastructure projects would hit Rp 300 trillion this year, with other projects also set to commence soon, including the building of power plants with combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts, the construction of the Solo-Kertosono toll road in Central and East Java and mineral-processing smelters in Halmahera, North Maluku, and Gresik, East Java.

Among the infrastructure projects in Jakarta that are to begin soon are the extension of runway at Soekarno-Hatta airport, as well as the upgrade of the Manggarai railway station and new railways in Jakarta, Bogor and Tangerang, according to the minister.

'€œAs such, the realization of infrastructure projects managed by state-run firms will be truly massive,'€ said Rini.