Jokowi Postpones ASN Transfer to New Capital in September

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, Abdullah Azwar Anas, affirmed that the government will postpone civil servant (ASN) transfer to Nusantara Capital City (IKN) this month. Azwar Anas said President Joko Widodo or Jokowi instructed to complete the offices and digital system development in the new capital before transferring the government employees.

“He doesn’t wish to rush (the transfer) and will await the completion of digital infrastructure, among other things,” he said on Tuesday, September 3. 2024. “Transfering civil servants to IKN is not merely about moving offices, but transforming the digital culture.”

The minister stopped short of confirming the exact timeline for the civil servant transfer delay. However, he said the government already has the transfer scheme while awaiting the completion of residence and office construction. 

“The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry and the IKN Authority stated previously that the construction was delayed due to the weather,” he said. 

Based on the target, the minister said, around 1,700 civil servants will move to IKN by the end of the year, after the completion of 47 residential towers. 

Azwar Anas previously said on July 1, 2024, that civil servants would start transferring to IKN in September and complete the construction of residential towers this November. Each tower will have 60 98-meter units with three bedrooms.

Previously, a public policy observer from UPN Veteran Jakarta, Achmad Nur Hidayat, said the postponement of the civil servant transfer to IKN indicated a more complex problem than just ecosystem preparedness. Moreover, before it was scheduled for September, the government had discussed the transfer of civil servants in July 2024.

Additionally, the delay in civil servant transfer to IKN is due to the resistance from the government employees themselves. 

President Jokowi said the civil servant transfer to IKN would not necessarily be on schedule and would depend on the infrastructure. "Once again, we don't want to force it. If it's not ready, then it will be postponed," said Jokowi after the activity at IKN on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, quoted from a voice message received by Tempo.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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