Regarding Painting The President's Aircraft, State Secretariat: It's Already In The State Budget So It Must Be Implemented

JAKARTA - Special Staff to the Minister of State Secretary, Faldo Maldini, explained that painting the Indonesian Presidential aircraft-1 or BBJ 2 is not a new thing. According to him, this plan is already in the state budget so it must be implemented.

"This is not a new plan, it has been started since 2019 to welcome the 75th Independence Day. However, the BBJ 2 aircraft was serviced according to the manufacturer's recommendation, it fell in 2021. At first, it was a package with several other fleets that had arrived. At the same time, it will be painted to make it more efficient", Faldo said in his statement to reporters, Tuesday, August 3.

According to him, the painting must be done because the budget has been allocated to the state budget. In addition, its use is by the provisions for refocusing the budget for handling COVID-19.

"The current budget has focused on the pandemic by the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Finance. Of course, this plan is already in the APBN, so it must be implemented", said Faldo.

Faldo said that the painting process for this aircraft was carried out domestically. This shows that the government believes in the quality of the domestic industry.

In addition, Faldo said, these efforts were made because the government was encouraging the business sector to continue running.

"The government also believes in the quality of the domestic industry that is doing this. During a pandemic, government spending can encourage the business sector, especially the aviation industry, which is very affected by the pandemic. Taking a plane now isn't as easy as it used to be, so it's all slowing down, from upstream to downstream", he said.

As previously reported, the paint change on the presidential plane caused a lot of attention on social media. The plane that was previously dominated by a blue color combination of white has now turned red with a white combination.

One of these highlights came from the Democrat Party politician Andi Arief. Through his Twitter account, he questioned the reason for the color change.

"Now the presidential plane is red. I don't know what that means, it could be the color of the flag or the Corona", he wrote on the @Andiarief__ account quoted Tuesday, August 3.