Jakarta – The President-elect of Indonesia for the 2024-2029 period, Prabowo Subianto, reiterated his support and commitment to continuing the development policy of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) initiated by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
Prabowo made these remarks during an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, which was uploaded on Al Jazeera English’s YouTube channel on Sunday (12/5).
Prabowo explained that the policy to move Indonesia’s capital has been conceived since the era of the first President of Indonesia, President Soekarno.
“This idea of moving the capital was actually for many many years. Since even our first resident, president Soekarno. And there’s always this move that this capital should be more central position,” Prabowo elaborated.
He added that Jakarta is currently facing a number of problems, one of which is that the city can no longer accommodate a population that reaches between 20 to 25 million people. “We have to invest more to save the Jakarta,” Prabowo added.
In the interview, Prabowo also emphasized his commitment to protecting and ensuring the welfare of the indigenous people in the IKN.
“Interest the security and the future of all the indigenous people are highest priority in my in my view. We have to protect them we have to secure um their livelihood and we have to do lot of planning and research that we do not displace too many people,” Prabowo stated firmly.
“And if you do we must compensate and we have to guarantee their well being,” he continued.
Furthermore, Prabowo asserted that he will always defend the interests of all Indonesians. “We will defend them, my strongest support is for those who are vulnerable,” he concluded.