Jokowi Reveals Reasons For Choosing North Penajam Paser And Kutai Kertanegara As IKN Nusantara Locations

President Joko Widodo (Instagram/@jokowi)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) revealed that the National Capital City (IKN) of the Nusantara is located in parts of North Penajam Paser Regency and Kutai Kertanegara Regency because it is located at the very center point of Indonesia's territory.

This is the reason why the areas in the two districts were chosen for the construction of the new state capital.

"It was decided in East Kalimantan in North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara because this is indeed the middle point if we take it from the west, east, north, south", Jokowi said as quoted from the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Tuesday, March 15.

"The center is here (location of IKN Nusantara, ed)", he added.

On that occasion, Jokowi also briefly explained the stages of selecting IKN locations. He said this process had been carried out since 2014 or when he served as president for the first term.

Jokowi said at that time, he ordered the Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to conduct a study. This step was taken because in the mirror of a number of his predecessors, such as the First President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno and the 2nd President of the Republic of Indonesia Suharto, actually had the same plan even though it failed.

Likewise, the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had a similar plan but had just conducted a study. "In 2014 I ordered the Head of Bappenas to open and conduct another study", said the former governor of DKI Jakarta. This step was taken not only because this area is the center point but also because of the availability of land.

Not only that, but Jokowi also said that it was important to move the country's capital for equitable distribution. Because, so far, all development to the economic cycle has been centered in Jakarta.

"We have 17,000 islands, 56 percent of which are in Java, 156 million of the population is on Java, even though we have 17,000 islands", he said.

"Then the GDP of the economy, the economic turnover of 58 percent is in Java, especially in Jakarta. What does that mean? Magnets are on the islands of Java and Jakarta, therefore there must be another magnet so that the 17 thousand islands do not only go to Java so that the burden on Java and Jakarta is not getting tougher. So, it starts with equality and justice", concluded Jokowi.