President Jokowi cites ‘heavy rain’ behind cancellation to move to Nusantara

Initially, Jokowi proposed moving to his legacy project Nusantara in July as he deemed the deadline for basic infrastructure would be met.

However, the outgoing President scrapped the plan last week following reports from the Public Works and Housing Ministry that the water and electricity supply were not fully ready.

“The target was initially slated for July, but we see that it’s raining every day in IKN (Nusantara Capital City) now. Really heavy rain,” Jokowi said at the Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport in East Jakarta on Tuesday, before departing to the United Arab Emirates, kompas.com reported.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono previously said that torrential rain had hampered the progress on Nusantara over the past month, adding that “out of the 30 days in June, only eight days were sunny.”

But Jokowi emphasized that such delays due to rain were “normal in a big project (like this)”.

Read also: Jokowi delays relocation to Nusantara, will move there ‘once the place is ready’

Starting construction in June 2022, Nusantara is the President’s legacy project, aimed at alleviating Jakarta’s perennial problems, ranging from congestion to sinking land.

The capital is to be inaugurated during the country’s Independence Day on Aug. 17, where Jokowi and president-elect Prabowo Subianto are set to hold his celebration at the new State Palace in Nusantara.

Yet the sitting President told everyone to manage their expectations for the new capital since it would be far from complete on Independence Day.

“Perhaps, based on calculations, IKN will only be 15 percent done by August 17,” he said while noting that it was a long-term project that would not be completed in two or three years.

“It may be completed fully in 15 to 20 years,” he added.

Jokowi’s recent visit to UAE was another attempt to seek foreign investors for Nusantara, whose lack of investors has been part of the problem hampering the new capital’s progress.