The House of Representatives Asks the Ministry of Transportation to Evaluate the Construction of 21 Airports in 3T Regions

JAKARTA - Chairman of Commission V of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Lasarus asked the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) to evaluate plans to build a new airport in Indonesia.

He suggested that the Ministry of Transportation maximize existing airports.

"We (DPR Commission V) asked the Ministry of Transportation to evaluate and maximize the airports that have been completed," Lasarus said in a meeting with the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, written Thursday, January 19.

Meanwhile, member of Commission V Suryadi Jaya also highlighted plans to build airports in 21 outermost, remote and underdeveloped regions (3T). The reason is, he sees that there are still airports that are not yet operational.

"The new airport is targeted at 21 locations. I think there needs to be a re-evaluation because some of our airports that have been built are not yet operating or even not effective," he said.

Suryadi said that the Ministry of Transportation also lacks a budget to build and finance various other activities.

Because of that, he asked for the construction of a new airport to be reconsidered.

"We lack a large enough budget to build and finance various activities, but sometimes on the one hand there are wastes which perhaps we can consider," he said.

Responding to this proposal, the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi said he agreed to evaluate the construction of the airport.

"Regarding the airport evaluation, I agree, because basically apart from me I have succeeded in Toraja, Silampari, Sudirman Airport, Ngloram, it was successful," said the Minister of Transportation.