The National Economic Recovery (PEN) funds will not be utilized for the development of Indonesia’s new capital (IKN) if their use is deemed to violate Law Number 2 of 2020, the Finance Minister has said.
The law is the basis for the distribution of the funds, Sri Mulyani Indrawati noted.
“If we are going to reallocate, such as (through) refocusing, there must be a reason and a basis,” she said during a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives, accessed online from Jakarta on Wednesday.
With regard to the development of the new capital, the government could also use the budget allocated to ministries and institutions, for example, the budget for the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (KemenPUPR), which is pegged at Rp110 trillion for 2022, she advised.
The minister said she could use the national economic recovery (PEN) budget of Rp178.3 trillion for the economic strengthening cluster, which, in 2020, was also used for food security programs.
A part of the PEN funds for the economic strengthening cluster could be used to build essential infrastructure in Indonesia’s new capital when the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing is ready to carry out the works, she suggested.
“We will see the readiness of the ministries and institutions. We will also see the execution capacity of the ministries and institutions,” the minister assured.
The government earlier estimated that the total budget requirement for Indonesia’s new capital would reach Rp466 trillion.
Of the total funds, Rp89.4 trillion will be sourced from the state budget, Rp253.4 trillion from government business entity cooperation (KPBU), and Rp123.2 trillion from the private sector, officials said.
At least 180 thousand central government employees will be relocated to Indonesia’s new capital spanning the districts of Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara in East Kalimantan, an official informed earlier.
“The central government is 100-percent ready for the new capital city,” acting regional secretary of Penajam Paser Utara district, Muliadi, said in Penajam on Wednesday.
According to data provided by the central government, there is a plan for relocating 180 thousand central government employees, he added.
The transferred employees are expected to gain an understanding of each task and function and get acquainted with living in East Kalimantan, he said.
Officials and newcomers who are about to move to East Kalimantan should be able to mingle with the local community to ensure there are no social conflicts, he added.
Central government employees will also need to gain an understanding of the local context and outlook that prevails in Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartenegara districts, he said.
“It is the same for local people, that this region has become Indonesia’s capital territory,” he remarked.
An understanding between newcomers and local people needs to be arrived at through special means, such as by involving the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP), to instill the context of national insight, as the problem is complex, he said.
Source: Antara News