Jokowi Breaks Ground on Mosque in IKN; Capacity for 61,000 People
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17 January 2024 13:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian President Joko Widodo, familiarly known as Jokowi, led the groundbreaking ceremony for the first state mosque in the planned new capital Nusantara or IKN in North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan.
He said that the mosque could accommodate up to 61,000 people, and its construction cost Rp940 billion, which includes regional infrastructure such as land, roads, and bridges.
“This mosque will be very big,” he said at IKN on Wednesday, January 17, as quoted from a live broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube channel.
He also said that the building would be surrounded by embung or retention basin as the mosque's exterior. “I was informed that it could be finished by the end of this year,” he added.
The head of state further announced that the government would build churches, monasteries, temples, and even pagodas to represent Indonesia's diversity and as a means to strengthen faith and devotion to God.
“This will show how diverse we are, and we must continue to maintain harmony to strengthen unity in our country,” he said.
President Jokowi was scheduled to break ground on several projects at IKN today. Earlier in the day, he officiated the construction project of the Nusantara Logistics Hub and Services, a joint project of state-owned postal company PT Pos Indonesia and PT Bina Karya.
DANIEL A. FAJRI
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