The Bill On The Capital Of The State Is Included In The 2021 Priority Prolegnas, But There Is No Certainty In The Discussion

Samboja, Kukar, East Kalimantan the location of the new nation's capital (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The government is following up on the plan to build a new capital city. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) today received the National Capital Planning, Design and Engineering Association at the Palace.

Member of the Legislation Body of House of Representatives (DPR) Guspardi Gaus said until now there has been no certainty in discussing the Draft Law (RUU) for the State Capital (IKN) even though the bill is included in the 2021 Priority National Legislation Program (Prolegnas).

"The IKN Bill is indeed included in the 2021 Priority Prolegnas. However, until now there is no certainty about the discussion, we are still waiting for the follow-up", said Guspardi in Jakarta, Thursday, April 15.

He said the Deliberative Council (Bamus) had not yet decided that the deliberation of the IKN Bill would be carried out at the working committee (Panja) or special committee (Pansus) level.

When discussed at the Working Committee, only one board member (AKD) is involved. Meanwhile, if it is discussed at the special committee level, it will involve many AKD or commissions.

"Until now there has been no news regarding the special meeting to discuss the issue", he said.

Guspardi emphasized that legally the Government needs to make changes to the law to move the nation's capital outside Jakarta. This is because the regulation of the nation's capital is regulated at the statutory level.

He added that actually moving the country's capital city to East Kalimantan was still at the stage of a political decision, not legally. Until now, Law Number 29 of 2007 is still in effect which regulates the country's capital city in Jakarta.

"As long as this law has not been repealed, it means that the capital city of Indonesia is still in Jakarta", said the PAN politician.

Therefore, according to him, before the IKN Bill was passed, the government could not allocate a budget for the construction of a new capital city.

"The law is very important because it will serve as a reference for regulating the budget that must be prepared because the budget cannot be issued without a valid basis (law)", said Guspardi.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) welcomes the Planning, Design and Engineering Association at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Thursday, April 15.

Minister of National Development Planning Suharso Monoarfa said this meeting shows that the government will be open to any ideas for the development of a new capital city.

"We together with the President welcome the association of professional experts in this matter from all scientific disciplines in the field of architecture in the fields of planning, regional planning, the environment, all of which are in the engineering sector", said Suharso.

Suharso said that all elements can participate even the slightest in the construction of the new capital. The members of the Planning, Design, and Engineering Association were no exception.

"So earlier the President listened carefully to the input to make a consideration", said Suharso.