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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has assigned the Transportation Ministry to develop Kertajati International Airport in Majalengka, West Java, to expedite the infrastructure project, which has stalled for a decade under the provincial administration.

'€œI'€™ve set a target to finish developing the airport by next year. It has taken six years [for the land procurement], and I don'€™t want the construction to take even longer,'€ Jokowi said in a statement made available by the presidential communication team.

The airport, which is expected to handle 5.6 million passengers a year, is intended to serve as an alternative to lighten the burden of Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, as well as Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta.

The West Java administration set aside only Rp 500 billion (US$35.8 million) for the development this year, while the estimated amount needed for the project'€™s overall construction reaches Rp 2.5 trillion. The gap will be met by the Transportation Ministry using its allocated budget, according to Jokowi.

The Transportation Ministry, previously in charge of developing the airport'€™s air infrastructure only, has spent a total of Rp 375 billion to date on building the runway out of the Rp 1 trillion investment required for the air infrastructure.

Previously, the regional administration, through province-owned enterprise PT Bandara Internasional Jawa Barat (BIJB), was in charge of the airport'€™s land infrastructure construction, a task that will now be handled by the ministry.

BIJB is in talks with state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, which is interested in both investing in and operating the airport. Some foreign investors are also reported to have shown interest in the airport.

The ministry'€™s director of airports, Agus Santoso, agreed that the delay was worrying; the West Java government has procured only 1,000 hectares of land of the required 1,800.

'€œIf the development continues to stall, the economic opportunity will be lost,'€ Agus said, adding that the airport would have multiplier social and economic effects on the area around it, especially West and Central Java.

In the first phase of development, one runway was built; in the second, the government plans to build two runways with expanded width to contain wide body aircraft, as well as a taxiway and apron.

The project was first initiated in 2003, and was planned to be funded by the regional budget. However, the regional administration failed to allocate funds until the government stepped in in 2012.

Contacted separately, Angkasa Pura II president director Budi Karya Sumadi said that the airport operator would welcome the final decision on the project. '€œWe will welcome [a role in the project], be it as operator or investor,'€ he said.