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Jokowi's second year: Visible infrastructure commitment
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Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inspects Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta in a September, 2014 file photo. (Antara)
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nfrastructure acceleration is among the nine key programs (Nawacita) of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla's administration in a bid to increase the country's competitiveness.
During the first two years of his presidency, Jokowi increased the infrastructure budget significantly, from Rp 290.3 trillion in 2015 to Rp 317.1 trillion in 2016. It will be further increased to Rp 346.6 trillion next year.
"The commitment is visible and the results can already be seen. For example, Terminal 3 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, as well as the construction of the trans-Sumatra and trans-Java toll roads," Samuel Asset Management economist Lana Soelistianingsih said on Tuesday in Jakarta.
Read also: Jokowi's second year: The year of development acceleration
Nonetheless, she argued, many of the projects were partial and yet to provide integrated infrastructure to support public transportation and meet citizen's basic rights.
According to Lana, this was due to the government's limited fiscal power to invest in the public sector. "However, private participation has been seen in some of the projects," she went on.
In 2016, a number of projects that have shown significant development are the Light Rail Transit (LRT), Kalibaru Terminal in Tanjung Priok port, Patimban port, Batang coal-fired power plant in Central Java, Serang-Panimbang Toll Road, airport revitalization and Palapa Ring project. (ags)
