October 10, 2022
JAKARTA – In an apparent swipe against outgoing Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has ordered interim Jakarta governor Heru Budi Hartono to immediately deal with the current flooding which has so far inundated 68 neighborhood units (RT) in the capital city.
“I have told Pak Heru that the primary problem in Jakarta is flooding and traffic jams, and there needs to be significant progress on that,” Jokowi said on Monday as quoted by Antara.
On Friday, following a meeting at the Presidential Palace, President Jokowi appointed his presidential chief of staff Heru to be the interim governor for Jakarta, replacing Anies, whose term expires on Oct. 16.
Jokowi picked Heru over two other candidates, Jakarta’s provincial secretary Marullah and Home Ministry’s Director General for Politics and General Administration, Bachtiar.
Heru served as North Jakarta mayor when Jokowi was Jakarta governor between 2012 and 2014. He served as head of the agency to manage Jakarta’s financial assets under then-governor Basuki Tjahaja “Ahok” Purnama in 2015.
“I’ve known him for a long time, from his time as mayor and then as head of the asset management agency. I know his track record, his capacity and capability. I know everything,” Jokowi said.
In the past few days, heavy downpour has inundated a large swathe of the capital and as of Monday morning at least 68 RTs have been affected by inundation.