Inaugurating Four Echelon 1 Officials In Kominfo, Mahfud MD Makes Sure All Projects Keep Running

Plt. Minister of Communication and Information Mahfud MD at the Jakarta Ministry of Communication and Information office (photo: Youtube Kemenkominfo)

JAKARTA - Acting Minister of Communication and Information Mahfud MD officially inaugurated four Echelon 1 people within the Ministry of Communication and Informatics on Tuesday, May 23, in Central Jakarta.

The Echelon 1 officials who were sworn in are as follows:

In his remarks, Mahfud MD also conveyed several important points during his assignment as the new Acting Minister of Communication and Information. First, Mahfud MD asked all officials and employees at the Ministry of Communication and Information to continue to work calmly.

"Working calmly, don't be nervous. The ongoing legal process has its own procedures, it will not target just anyone. So take it easy, work as usual, don't be hampered, don't be afraid to make decisions," he told the media crew, at the Kominfo office.

Furthermore, according to President Joko Widodo's direction, the 4G BTS project, which has been running since 2006, must be continued. Because if not, it will cause considerable losses.

"The 4G BTS project will and must be continued. This project started in 2006, and now it is 2023. So now it has been more than 16 years since this project has been running, meaning that many have been issued. The President ordered this to continue. Because if it starts again from scratch, it will be difficult," he said.

No less important, the official who also serves as Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) also said that during his leadership in Kominfo now, the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) was allowed to enter the Ministry of Communication and Information.

"One thing that causes this to happen, because at the Kominfo office BPKP cannot enter. Some ministries are safe because before the project, BPKP asked for an audit first. So now, I declare in my duties and authorities as the new Minister of Communication and Information, whenever BPKP wants to enter, it must be permitted, and I invite law enforcement (KPK, Attorney General's Office, police), if there is anything that makes sense to investigate, I will allow it," he concluded.

Finally, Plt. The Minister of Communication and Information also emphasized that other Kemkominfo projects such as SATRIA Satellite, the construction of the National Data Center, and Palapa Ring will continue, and will not be related to the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) project problem.