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No more Javacentric infrastructure projects: Jokowi
Speed it up!: President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo has said the government will focus its work on agriculture and infrastructure improvements, which have been highlighted in the economic policy package he announced at the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept
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Speed it up!: President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo has said the government will focus its work on agriculture and infrastructure improvements, which have been highlighted in the economic policy package he announced at the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 9.(setkab.go.id) (setkab.go.id)
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span class="inline inline-center">Speed it up!: President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has said the government will focus its work on agriculture and infrastructure improvements, which have been highlighted in the economic policy package he announced at the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 9.(setkab.go.id)
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has reiterated his commitment to building
infrastructure on the outskirts of developed areas and in villages outside Java,
allocating Rp 314 trillion (US$22.5 billion) in 2016 state funds to promote
equitable development, especially in remote and border areas.
At a recent Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) working
meeting in Jakarta, Jokowi readdressed two crucial problems that the government
must resolve through non-Javacentric development, namely inequality among
regions and wide gaps in the prices of goods.
For example, Premium gasoline in Jakarta is tagged at Rp 7,000 per liter, but
in Wamena, Papua, the price can soar to around Rp 60,000 per
liter.
"Here [in Jakarta], each sack of cement is priced at Rp 60,000, but in the
Papua highlands the price is around Rp 1 million to Rp 2.5 million per sack
because of the lack of infrastructure. We must resolve this imbalance," Jokowi
said.
The President described the lack of infrastructure in Papua based on his visit
to Nduga regency, where roads remain unpaved. "It took four days to travel
from Nduga to Wamena," he said, ordering the Public Works and Public
Housing Ministry and the Army to surface the roads soon.
"If Nduga is connected by road, prices [of goods] will drop by half,"
he said, adding that the government not only paid attention to road infrastructure
in remote and underdeveloped areas, but also in border areas.
Further, Jokowi explained that infrastructure development such as dams,
reservoirs and ports would also increase the competitiveness of national
products. Irrigation, he said, was key to food security in the future.
Likewise, he underlined that ports were also crucial to improving competitiveness.
"Ports are key because two-thirds of our territory is water," he
added.
To boost infrastructure, according to Jokowi, the government would take over projects
that had faced delays for years, such as the trans-Sumatra toll road. In April
2015, Jokowi attended the groundbreaking of the 2,700-kilometer toll road that will
connect Lampung with Aceh, after a 10-year tender.
Meanwhile, to develop villages, the government has increased the village fund
allocation in the state budget from Rp 20.7 trillion in 2015 to Rp 46.98
trillion in 2016.
"I have ordered that large amounts of village funds be used to create as
many jobs as possible, and to buy items such as sand and stones so the money
will circulate in the villages," Jokowi said. (ags)
