August 12, 2024
JAKARTA – As Independence Day inches closer, the government is ramping up its preparations for the simultaneous celebrations in Jakarta and the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) in East Kalimantan, spending more money than in previous years.
Construction work in Nusantara was paused on Saturday to prepare for the city’s first-ever Independence Day celebration on Aug. 17.
In a preparation event on Saturday, the nation’s flag and a copy of the text of the proclamation of independence were transported from the National Monument in Jakarta to the IKN, marking the first time they have ever left Jakarta. The event in Jakarta also involved hundreds of the capital’s Abang None pageant participants, flag bearers and students from various schools.
The flag and the proclamation text are now being stored at the new Garuda Palace in Nusantara.
“The event is a symbol of teamwork and synergy between Jakarta and Nusantara,” Presidential Secretariat head Heru Budi Hartono, who is also the interim Jakarta governor, said on Saturday.
Outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and president-elect Prabowo Subianto are slated to commemorate Independence Day in Nusantara, while Vice President Ma’ruf Amin and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son, will join the event in Jakarta.
Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the Democratic Party has confirmed he will not be attending the Aug. 17 celebrations in Nusantara, while his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has neither accepted nor declined her invitation.
The 79th Independence Day has raked in more state funding than ever before according to State Secretary Pratikno, given that it will be celebrated in both Jakarta and Nusantara.
Pratikno said the budget ballooned because the government paid for hotels and buses for guests who will attend the ceremony in Nusantara. However, he assured that the budget increase was “not significant,” as quoted by Tempo.
The increased budget has prompted public criticism and concern about how much money the next administration will have left for government activities in the new capital.
Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) executive director Tauhid Ahmad predicted on Sunday that the cost of governance in Nusantara will logically be higher, seeing as the price just to construct the buildings is high.
“Basically, the cost of living in East Kalimantan is generally higher than Jakarta, not to mention that the green living that will be implemented there requires more funding,” Tauhid told The Jakarta Post.
In a string of meetings at the House of Representatives in June, a number of ministries and government bodies requested larger budgets in order to meet the expenses in Nusantara for the 2025 fiscal year. The Cabinet Secretariat for example proposed a budget increase for next year when they will operate offices both in the new capital city and the country’s soon-to-be former capital, Jakarta.
The coming Independence Day celebrations in Nusantara were initially supposed to mark the start of the relocation of the capital from the sinking and congested Jakarta, but multiple construction delays, a lack of foreign investment and land acquisition problems have hampered the plan.
Jokowi has postponed signing a presidential decree designating the IKN the new capital and instead opened the possibility of the decree later being signed by Prabowo.
Prabowo, currently the defense minister, has pledged to continue developing the new capital, but observers said he has not shown as much interest in accelerating the project because of fiscal constraints.
Jokowi flew to Nusantara on Sunday, where he is scheduled to hold a plenary cabinet meeting on Monday, reportedly to discuss an evaluation of the work of his administration in its final year and the transition to the incoming Prabowo administration.
It will be the first assembly of all ministers to be held at the new Garuda Palace after Jokowi postponed a gathering during his visit two weeks ago because many ministers were on work trips abroad at the time and there was no furniture yet.