OIKN Secretary Answers Anies Baswedan's Criticism: If You Have An Opinion, Check The Law First

JAKARTA - Secretary of the Archipelago Capital Authority (OIKN) Achmad Jaka Santos Adiwijaya answered criticism from Presidential Candidate Anies Baswedan who stated that Indonesia's equitable distribution was not only building small towns in the middle of the forest.

According to him, everyone can have their own opinions, especially for candidates for contestation in the 2024 presidential election (Pilpres).

"Yes, they may think about anything personally or as a presidential candidate (candidate)," said Jaka Santos when contacted by VOI, Friday, November 24.

Jaka Santos assessed that his party is only a government institution whose position is under and responsible to the President, and works based on Law Number 3 of 2022 in conjunction with Law Number 21 of 2023, along with related laws and regulations.

"So, OIKN's job is of course to work at the same time to help the leadership/government and carry out the best in accordance with the mandated law," he said.

He added that the conception of development in IKN itself was clearly stated in Law Number 3 of 2022 in conjunction with Law Number 21 of 2023 and its implementing regulations.

"If you have an opinion, of course everyone is free to think, only the important thing is to see whether the opinion is in accordance with the law or not. It can be checked back to the law regarding what is being developed," said Jaka.

According to Jaka Santos, it would be unfair if certain parties considered that the IKN development would not be fully successful.

This is because the development of the archipelago has just begun.

"Regarding the results of the IKN development because it has just begun, and how will we write it down, it is certain that it cannot be judged fairly whether it works or not," he added.

As previously reported, presidential candidate number 1, Anies Baswedan, spoke at length about the purpose of building a new city during the open Muhammadiyah dialogue at UMS Surakarta, Wednesday, November 22.

Anies' answer answered questions from dialogue panelists about whether the construction of IKN is prospective for Indonesia.

According to Anies, the goal of building a new city will not produce equity. On the contrary, the construction of a new city actually creates inequality with the surrounding area.

"When the goal of building a new city and a new capital city is to equalize, it does not produce a new equitable, why? Because it will produce a new city that is unequal with the surrounding areas," Anies replied, quoted from Kompas TV's YouTube, Thursday, November 24.

According to Anies, equitable development in Indonesia must be carried out targeting small cities to become medium and medium into big cities.

"So between the goals of wanting to generalize Indonesia, if you want to equalize Indonesia, then building a small, medium-sized city becomes a big city throughout Indonesia, not just building one city in the middle of the forest," explained Anies.

Therefore, Anies continued, what the government is doing by building IKN is actually problematic. The government's move is not connected to its goals.

"Because building a city in the middle of the forest actually creates a new inequality. So between the goals and the steps it takes, it doesn't connect. We see here the problem, because this must be seriously studied because our goal is an equal goal for Indonesia, an even Indonesia, the arguments are the same, but in our opinion the steps are not by building one city, but rather by raising all cities throughout Indonesia," concluded Anies.