Jokowi Refutes Anies Baswedan's Criticism over IKN

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi responded to criticism voiced by presidential candidate Anies Baswedan regarding the development of the State Capital City or IKN, which the latter claimed would generate inequality.

In response, Jokowi stressed that the IKN project initiated by the government is aimed at overcoming the economic inequality among regions in the archipelago.

“It's the opposite. We don't want Java-centric development, we want Indonesia-centric development,” the President said after planting trees at the Pulogadung Industrial Area, East Jakarta, on Wednesday, November 29.

He said there was still inequality in national economic development, as evidenced by the fact that Java accounted for 58 percent of the gross domestic income (GDP) of the national economy.

People may have different opinions, but Jokowi reminded all that the IKN project is regulated by Law No. 3/2022 on the national capital.

Other than economic inequality, he also said the population is still concentrated on the island of Java. “56 percent of Indonesian people live in Java, so there must be equality in 17,000 islands.”

The President believed that equal distribution of the economy and population could create new points of economic growth. “That’s the goal. But this doesn’t take a day or two, a year or two, but a long term,” Jokowi said.

Previously, Anies Baswedan expressed concerns that the IKN would eventually create a new city unequal to its surrounding areas during an open dialogue held at Surakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMS) in Central Java on November 22.

ANTARA

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