MP3EI Unable to Solve Infrastructure Problems

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-A number of analysts have criticized the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI), which was touted to solve Indonesia's infrastructure problems. The projects that have started have yet to encourage the development of marine infrastructure.

"Indonesia is an archipelago, but the MP3EI projects do not encourage connectivity in its true sense as they are focused on ground transportation," an economist from the University of Indonesia (UI), Faisal Basri, said yesterday.

The maritime industry and inter-island network connectivity, according to Faisal, will be able to improve the national economy. Indonesia's geography requires high-cost shipping to distribute goods between islands; therefore maritime infrastructure will be crucial to lower costs and shorten distances between islands.

UI's public policy analyst Andrinof Chaniago said that MP3EI projects are mostly located in Java. This, he said, will lead to economic inequality. "The increasingly crowded Java has become a business land for some people. Areas outside Java are getting more and more left behind," he said.  

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa confirmed that most of MP3EI projects are located in Java because the island is still very attractive to investors. However, after the groundbreaking of several projects this year, the biggest investments are actually located in Papua, Maluku and North Maluku.

Deputy Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Lucky Eko Wuryanto, acknowledged that to have better connectivity between islands Indonesia needs, among others, large ports. "We have to admit that, at the moment, some of the things we want have not been started," he said.