October 8, 2024
JAKARTA – The Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority has set a tight deadline for completing the construction of government ministry buildings in the planned future capital city and has announced trials for larger aircraft at Nusantara airport.
IKN Authority head Basuki Hadimuljono said the target was for the ministerial infrastructure to be up and running by the end of this month.
As of early October, work on ministerial offices in the partially constructed city in East Kalimantan had reached 95 percent completion.
“In the past, during the [COVID-19] pandemic, there was a policy to hold meetings in Bali, in [Yogyakarta]; meetings of the ministries were held here, such as the Home Ministry. So it is [now] encouraged [to hold such meetings in Nusantara],” Basuki told reporters, as quoted by Bisnis on Monday.
Basuki, who also serves as the public works and housing minister, said a major meeting was to be held at the new ministry offices in Nusantara on Thursday involving Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Hadi Tjahjanto.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, speaking at the Indonesian Military Fun Run 2024 event on Sunday, expressed his expectation that ministerial meetings would begin to be held at Nusantara this month, as reported by Bisnis.
Basuki noted that President Jokowi had called for intensified efforts to increase community activity in Nusantara and emphasized the importance of social ecosystems.
The President highlighted the role of coffee shops as social space. “In [Nusantara], we need to bolster the crowd […] to build the [social] ecosystem. For instance, a few weeks ago, there was no café, now there is Excelso, later there will be another simple restaurant,” said President Jokowi on Sunday, speaking at the same event.
Bigger role for Nusantara airport
Meanwhile, trials are set to begin this week for the use of larger aircraft at Nusantara’s airport amid the extension of its runway, according to Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi.
Budi said the runway was now 2,200 meters long and 45 m wide.
The Public Works and Housing Ministry aims to complete work to thicken the runway’s paving by Thursday.
“Insya Allah [God willing], the work on this part of the runway will be completed on the morning of [Oct.] 10 and in the afternoon a trial landing will be carried out,” Budi Karya said, as quoted by Bisnis on Sunday.
Read also: Nusantara Airport runway test runs smoothly, says minister
The presidential aircraft of the type Avro RJ85 has landed at Nusantara airport in the past, but after the upgrade, the airport’s runway will be ready to accommodate the Boeing Business Jet 737-800 Presidential Aircraft, which is larger than the Avro RJ85.
“Before the President’s plane lands, we will conduct a test flight with a similar aircraft, just like before the landing of the RJ85 at Nusantara airport,” Budi added.
This follows trials conducted on the longer runway in August.
“A take-off and landing trial was conducted using a King Air B200 [aircraft]. It went smoothly and successfully,” Budi said in a media statement, as quoted by Antara news agency in August.
Jet aircraft carrying passengers landed for the first time at Nusantara airport in September, including a Cessna Citation Longitude.
Read also: Jet aircraft carrying passengers lands for first time at Nusantara airport