TheIKNPost.com – The Archipelago Capital (IKN) mega project located in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan sparked quite a tough debate between vice presidential candidates in the cawapres debate held by the General Election Commission (KPU) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Friday ( 12/22).
Gibran Rakabuming Raka, vice presidential candidate number two, emphasized that the development of IKN is a commitment from himself and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto to continue equitable development. According to him, IKN will be able to open new economic growth points, open access and connectivity as well as open employment opportunities.
“IKN not only builds government buildings but also as a symbol of equitable development in Indonesia and also as a symbol of development transformation in Indonesia,” said Gibran.
According to him, many parties fail to understand the financing of the development of this prospective national capital, thinking that it will be fully funded from the state budget. In fact, only 20 percent of the APBN was allocated for the development of the IKN. the remaining 80 percent, he said, would come from both domestic and foreign investors.
Vice presidential candidate number three Mahfud MD also asked Gibran whether any investors had come in, considering that this source of funding from investors was really needed.
“I am very interested in IKN and it is good that we are implementing it as Mr Jokowi’s legacy. But earlier I was intrigued that the budget for IKN is only 20 percent of the APBN. I see, until now not a single investor has entered. If so, please state which investors. “What I heard is that hundreds of thousands of hectares of land are currently controlled by certain entrepreneurs,” said Mahfud.
Gibran also denied Mahfud’s statement that no investors had yet entered. He said that various domestic investors had committed to investing, one of which was the Mayapada Group.
Vice presidential candidate Mahfud MD conveyed his vision and mission in the Second 2024 Vice Presidential Debate held by the Indonesian General Election Commission (KPU RI) on Friday (22/12) in Jakarta. (VOA/Indra Yoga)
Meanwhile, vice presidential candidate number one, Muhaimin Iskandar, said that he and his partner, Anies Baswedan, were committed from the start not to continue developing IKN. According to him, there are still other more urgent things that the incoming government needs to do.
“Ability to read priority scales. All large, ambitious projects, IKN as one of them, only rely on the APBN of almost IDR 500 trillion. Even though just one percent of the Rp. 400 trillion to build roads throughout Kalimantan is finished, building all the cities in Kalimantan is finished. “And the most infrastructure for human resources is three percent of the entire IKN budget that can build good schools throughout Kalimantan, that is an example of the ability to take a priority scale,” said Muhaimin.
But then, the debate became increasingly heated when Muhaimin planned to build 40 new cities at the same level as Jakarta if he and Anies were later elected to lead Indonesia.
“We have a determination that in the next government, at a minimum, 40 new cities must be built at the same level as Jakarta, with the capacity to accommodate the population, provide adequate facilities and infrastructure as well as the ability to maintain an environment that allows for health, including a life that provides comfort for its entire population. “The housing is not too far from employment centers, where access to education can reach what is needed,” added Muhaimin.
Vice presidential candidate Muhaimin Iskandar conveyed his vision and mission in the Second 2024 Vice Presidential Debate held by the Indonesian General Election Commission (KPU RI) on Friday (22/12) in Jakarta. (VOA/Indra Yoga)
Gibran responded quite harshly to this statement. “Gus Muhaimin is a bit strange, doesn’t he? He wants to build a city at the level of Jakarta but doesn’t agree with IKN? “But please come, it’s okay,” said Gibran.
Gibran even stated that Muhaimin was inconsistent because he had previously visited IKN to inaugurate the construction of IKN by cutting tumpeng together.
Mahfud himself was quite surprised by the vision and mission of Anies and Muhaimin who wanted to build 40 new cities at the same level as the metropolitan city of Jakarta.
“Cak Imin (Muhaimin’s nickname, ed.) I’m a bit surprised too, he wants to build 40 cities at the level of Jakarta. Yes, can it be implemented in five years? How many cities will there be in five years? This IKN has only been implemented for decades, and even then the new investment is in the form of promises. Nobody has implemented it yet. “In my opinion, it’s extraordinary,” said Mahfud.
Seven Percent Economic Growth
Candidate pair Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD have a target of economic growth reaching seven percent if they later lead this country.
According to him, the seven percent target is actually quite appropriate considering the natural and human resources that Indonesia has. However, why is Indonesia’s economic growth only around five percent? According to him, this is due to the proliferation of corrupt practices in various sectors in Indonesia.
Presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD attended the Second Vice Presidential Debate for the 2024 Election on Friday (22/12) in Jakarta (VOA/Indra Yoga)
“What’s the problem? “The problem is that there is a lot of corruption and inefficiency in the economic growth sector, namely the consumption sector, government spending, exports, imports and investment,” said Mahfud.
Corrupt practices, he said, also occurred at the legislative, executive and judicial levels.
“When we step on the earth, there is corruption in mining, we go to sea, there is corruption in maritime affairs, we see airplanes in the air and it turns out they are corrupt. As a result, people are poor. “So, the key (economic growth reaching seven percent) is how we eradicate corruption,” he stressed.
Anies and Muhaimin are targeting fairly moderate economic growth, namely in the range of 5.5-6 percent. According to him, this target is quite realistic under current conditions. He and Anies want to realize quality and inclusive economic growth. According to him, the economic growth he and Anies want must have a direct impact on society, such as absorbing the workforce, increasing people’s income and accelerating equitable development.
Presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair Anies Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar attended the Second Vice Presidential Debate for the 2024 Election on Friday (22/12) in Jakarta (VOA/Indra Yoga)
“The target of 5.5-6 percent is calculated so that if we are not too realistic, we are worried that we will end up having more foreign debt. This excessive amount of foreign debt has resulted in a burden, not only for the government, but also for our children and grandchildren who will experience a long debt burden. One of them is how to ensure that our APBN is healthy. Currently, the percentage of IDR 3,000 trillion of the APBN alone to pay debts is quite high, so that no less than 20 percent of the APBN is used to pay foreign debt. “So the target of 5.5-6 percent is realistic and will not burden our development process in the future,” he explained.
Indef economist Berly Martawardaya does not agree with what Gibran said that IKN could be a symbol of equality. According to him, IKN is just the presence of a magnificent city outside Java.
Apart from that, he emphasized that the economic impact of IKN would not be too big on the country’s economy. The reason is, IKN is specifically designated as a government city. “The economic impact is small, because it is not an industrial city, if it were an industrial city there would be an impact. This is interesting, IKN is said to be a symbol of equality which (in my opinion) will increase inequality. Why? “Because the budget is large, and the impact is still small or long,” said Berly.
Presidential and vice-presidential candidate pair Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka attended the Second Vice Presidential Debate for the 2024 Election on Friday (22/12) in Jakarta (VOA/Indra Yoga)
According to him, the budget disbursed for IKN development will have a greater impact on the country’s economy if it is used to improve the welfare of people outside Java, such as infrastructure development, the education sector, the health sector and so on.
He also commented on the seven percent economic growth target promoted by Ganjar-Mahfud. According to him, there is still a lot that needs to be improved on the government’s side if it wants to achieve seven percent economic growth in addition to eradicating corruption.
“If you ask realistically, the target is lower, of course it is realistic. In political contestation, of course there is a target, but it is necessary to be clear about how to achieve it. Will automatically by eradicating corruption, economic growth will be high? “No, but regulations and so on need to be improved,” he said.
“It’s a shame that human resources are not discussed much, because the quality of our education has decreased. “That’s also a note that if someone invests, they want it to be easy to get the permit, after that the human resources are good, there’s no corruption, and so on,” he concluded. (gi/ab)
