Jokowi Responds to Criticism on IKN: 'We Want to be Indonesia-Centric'
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29 November 2023 11:44 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi responded to criticism against the development of Nusantara Capital City or IKN, stating that everyone is free to express their criticism toward the new state capital project.
"Indeed, you are free to express your opinion, but IKN itself is already ratified in a Law," he said during a tree planting event in East Jakarta on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.
Concerning the belief that IKN has birthed inequalities, Jokowi, said, the development of the new state capital was instead initiated to prove that infrastructure development is not only tied to Java Island.
"We don't want to be Java-centric, but instead Indonesia-centric," he remarked.
Jokowi explained that out of 17,000 islands in Indonesia, 58 percent of its GDP is focused on Java Island. Thus, Jokowi believes that the development of a new state capital will bring economic growth to other Indonesian islands.
Another reason brought up by the former Jakarta governor was regarding the population. According to Jokowi, around 56 percent of the Indonesian population is located on Java Island. Other regions, he said, also need equitable development. "That's what we are aiming for," he said.
Equitable development, he explained further, encompassed economic and population equality.
Jokowi also admitted that the development will take a significant amount of time. "It's a long-term [development], it will not be finished in a day or even a year," he concluded.
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