Shadowed By COVID-19, The Government 'Show Off' Successfully Completed 11 National Strategic Projects This Year

President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) together with Minister of PUPR Basuki Hadimuljono. (Photo: Setkab)

JAKARTA - The government through the Committee for the Acceleration of Priority Infrastructure (KPPIP) claims to have completed 11 National Strategic Projects (PSN) even though it is overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is valued at IDR 135.2 trillion during the period January to December 4, 2020.

Deputy for Regional Development and Spatial Planning Coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Wahyu Utomo, said that the achievement went according to the target that had been adjusted at the beginning of the pandemic.

"In 2020, we recorded 11 completed projects with a value of Rp135 trillion," he said, in a written statement received by VOI, Wednesday, December 9.

The Chief Executive of KPPIP explained that the results of KPPIP's monitoring of the progress of 201 projects and 10 PSN programs from January to December 4 showed that in addition to 11 projects that had been completed in total, 24 projects were partially operating.

"KPPIP has also succeeded in pushing 6 projects through the Preparation Stage, including the Yogyakarta-Bawen Toll Road and the Addition of the Solo-Yogyakarta-Kulon Progo Toll Road Scope. This is a positive achievement for the government in completing PSN in the midst of a pandemic," he said.

In early 2020, KPPIP which was mandated to evaluate PSN proposals had evaluated 269 project proposals from the Ministry, Local Government, BUMN, Private Business Entities, and existing PSN in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 56 of 2018 with basic, strategic and Operational.

Based on these criteria, Wahyu said, as many as 201 projects and 10 programs covering 22 sectors with a total investment value of IDR 4,817.7 trillion have been designated as the latest PSN list in Perpres 109/2020. PSN projects and programs include projects with funding sourced from the APBN / APBD, BUMN, and / or private sector.

"The PSN list evaluation considers the previous PSN list as well as new proposals using basic criteria, strategic criteria and operational criteria, and plays a role in supporting the center of economic activity," he explained.

In 2021, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs will continue to accelerate the provision of PSN to boost the economy through increased investment, employment, as well as industrial and tourism recovery.

"For the rest, the government is optimistic that it will be able to complete PSN in addition to the Energy sector in the third quarter of 2024," he said.

For information, the PSN list was first established through Presidential Decree 3/2016 covering 225 projects and 1 program, then revised in 2017 through Perpres 58/2017 to cover 245 projects and 2 programs.

This list was then revised again in 2018 through Presidential Decree 56/2018 to include 223 projects and 3 programs. From 2016 to December 4, 2020, as many as 103 projects worth IDR 602.7 trillion have been successfully completed.