President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended an event held to mark the start of the construction of low-cost apartments (Rusunami) intended for workers in Serpong, South Tangerang, on Thursday.

Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri, who accompanied the President, said he was optimistic the project, constructed by state-owned construction firm PT Pembangunan Perumahan (PP), would be completed according to schedule.

“We hope it will be done in two years,” Hanif said as quoted by tempo.co.

Each of the 32 square-meter, two-bedroom apartments, will have a bathroom, kitchen and living room. 

The apartments, Loftvilles Serpong, will consist of 11 towers on an 8.2-hectare plot of land. Andi Gani, the president director of PP, said nine towers were intended for 6,000 low-income workers, subsidized by the government. He added that the other two towers were for commercial housing. 

The project is part of the President’s 1 million houses program to provide affordable housing to low-income people. (dev)