President Jokowi: IKN to Provide Equitable Development

President Jokowi at the event, Jakarta, Tuesday (10/18). (Photo by: BPMI Presidential Secretariat/Muchlis Jr)

The development of Nusantara Capital City (IKN) is expected to provide equitable development across the nation, which has long been concentrated in Java Island, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo delivered.

“Indonesia needs national-scope economic justice. There are 17 thousand islands, not just one. We need equality and equitable development. This is what we expect from the construction of the IKN,” President Jokowi stated in his remarks at the talk adopting theme of the Nusantara Capital City: New History, New Civilization in Jakarta, Tuesday (10/18).

According to the President, the IKN development is carried out with the concept of a nature-based future smart city with 70 percent green area and will prioritize renewable energy as energy source, including in transportation.

“Around 80 percent of the transportation here is public transportation with autonomous vehicles, without crews and driver. We value pedestrians and cyclists there. Ten-minute city, the distance to everywhere is within 10 minutes,” President Jokowi added.

Furthermore, the President said that he will instill productive work culture in the IKN as a culture and it can be realized through the support of good governance and management, as well as the implementation of qualified technology.

“Smart living, smart city, community service through apps, be it birth certificates or marriage certificates, it can be applied via your cellphone, paperless. This is what we want to build,” President Jokowi said.

In addition, the land used in the construction of the IKN is currently a monoculture production forest of eucalyptus trees, which are cut every six to seven years. “This is what we want to revert. In the future, we want to create a heterogeneous forest with native and endemic trees from Kalimantan, so there will be a tropical rain forest again in Kalimantan,” he asserted.

The Government, the President added, has prepared a nursery center which was built last June and he expressed hope that the nursery will be able to reforest Kalimantan by planting various types of seeds.

“The nursery will have approximately 15 hectares of area with 7 hectares of ponds. We hope that it will be completed at the beginning of the year where the annual seedling capacity can produce approximately 15 million seedlings per year,” he conclusively remarked. (BPMI Presidential Secretariat/UN) (GWH/HD/MUR)