Cak Imin Explains Why It's A Shame To See Banjarmasin To Balikpapan In The Middle Of IKN Development

Presidential Candidates number 1 Anies-Cak Imin (Diah Ayu/VOI)

JAKARTA - Candidate for vice president number 1, Muhaimin Iskandar explained the reason why he felt sorry for a number of cities in Kalimantan such as Banjarmasin, Pontianak, and Balikpapan, when the government intensified the development of the capital city of Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan. According to Cak Imin, there is an imbalance in urban infrastructure development that still needs to be considered rather than focusing only on development in one area, namely the new capital city. This was conveyed by Cak Imin after the debate between the two presidential elections in 2024 specifically for the vice president at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Central Jakarta. "Many of our cities can still be developed into developed cities, especially infrastructure and water needs," said Cak Imin, Friday, December 22. Cak Imin sees that Banjarmasin City still has problems with road damage at various points. Not only that, Imin also assessed that the Pontianak City budget nominal was still minimal, when the government jor-joran poured out the budget for IKN. "The Pontianak APBD is only 1 trillion. Imagine if we could add more, so that the aspect of equitable development occurs," said Imin. "Today's roundabout is also very difficult, many roads are still damaged, and clean water is the main problem," he added. Therefore, the development priorities that must be carried out by the government, according to Cak Imin, are the equal distribution of the budget, which prioritizes the development of other cities, so that the development of the city moves faster. Previously in the vice presidential debate, Cak Imin considered that urban development should be made evenly distributed in various places. This aims to prevent population buildup in one urban area.

"We do not agree or disagree with IKN. The most important thing is priority to equity and justice so that cities can be built, so that clean water facilities are realized," explained Cak Imin. "I'm sorry, Banjarmasin is sorry, Pontianak is sorry, why? We can magic these cities in a short time for the better. For what reason? The fiscal we provide is evenly distributed in each urban area," he added.