Not necessarily September, Jokowi still waiting for airport to be completed before taking office in IKN

President Jokowi (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is waiting for the readiness of the airport in the Capital City of the Archipelago (IKN), East Kalimantan, to be completed and usable, before ensuring that he moves and has an office in IKN.

‘See the field conditions, because there are many things that have not been completed. For example, the airport has not yet been completed,’ President Jokowi said when giving a press statement after inaugurating the Maternal and Child Health Service Building of Sardjito Yogyakarta Hospital in Yogyakarta, Sleman Regency, as quoted by ANTARA on Wednesday, 28 August.

The President emphasised that he would not insist on moving his office to IKN in September if the infrastructure in the field, such as the airport, has not been completed.

According to the President, his move to the IKN office can be done if during a working visit to another province, such as Papua or NTT, the President can depart from the IKN Airport.

‘So, if we have moved there, we should go to Papua from IKN, NTT from IKN, Aceh from IKN, if the airport is not finished yet...,’ the President said.

Previously, during his first office in IKN at the end of July, the President first ensured the readiness of water supply, electricity and internet network. However, for the move to IKN in September, the President emphasised that the airport must have been completed and can be used.

‘Yes, the airport,’ Jokowi said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi admitted that the airport in the Capital City of the Archipelago (IKN), East Kalimantan, is ready to be landed by aircraft including the Indonesian Presidential Aircraft in early September 2024.

‘The presidential aircraft can land in early September,’ Mr Sumadi said in Jakarta on Monday.

With a thumbs up, Budi reiterated the readiness of the airport including the runway which was tested last Sunday.

It was previously known that Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is likely to move to the Archipelago Capital or IKN, East Kalimantan, in September 2024.

‘If I know President Jokowi's programme, if the airport (IKN) operates in the first week of September, he will move there,’ said PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono.