Minister Suharso Doesn't Know Mining Concession On IKN Land, Observer: Proof Of Feasibility Study Not Working, Only "Yes Man"

Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa (ANTARA/HO-Bappenas)

JAKARTA - Political communication observer at Esa Unggul University, Jamiluddin Ritonga, assessed that the acknowledgment of the Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso who did not know part of the IKN mining concession area was very surprising. Coordination between institutions, including with the National Land Agency, also does not work. "All of this strengthens the suspicion that the feasibility study did not go well in determining the location of IKN. The impression is that all yes men after the president designated the location to be IKN. No one else dared to state differently for fear considered not to support the president's decision," Jamiluddin told VOI, Thursday, January 27, evening.

In addition, said Jamiluddin, the poor study was also seen by the occurrence of flooding at the IKN location. Because, it is impossible if there is a careful feasibility study at that location.

"It also indicates that there are many ABS (as long as you are happy) around the president. For them, the important thing is that the president is happy so that the position or position remains secure," he said.

Previously, the Minister of National Development Planning and Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa did not know that some of the land in the State Capital (IKN) was a mining concession area. He thinks the mining concessions held by a number of companies are old permits that have been finalized.

"We don't have any," said Suharso at his office, Menteng, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, January 25.

Suharso only learned about the mining concession data when Tempo visited his office. Suharso then called the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Sofyan Djalil to confirm the data.

"How come I just found out this (mine) exists. It's very big. How come this data was not given to us?” he said.

After talking for a few minutes with Sofyan, Suharso said his colleague confirmed the existence of a mining concession. Bappenas, said Suharso, needed the data for the smooth running of the IKN development process in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan.

Bappenas is a government agency that compiles a master plan for the development of the capital city. His party, said Suharso, needed to ensure that the entire area where the new capital was located was clean and clear.

Meanwhile, based on Sofyan's story, Suharso said the land concession was related to the expansion of IKN land. The government originally set the capital area to be 200 thousand hectares, but it was expanded to 256.1 thousand hectares.

"Perhaps the assumption is that most concessions will be completed in 2033," said Suharso.

Suharso did not deny that IKN's land was filled with forest concession areas (HPH) and industrial forest plantations (HTI). He said the government had stopped the HPH permits which had almost expired.

In addition, he said there were a number of people's mines. The government, he said, required companies to carry out reclamation.