President Prabowo Subianto is expected to soon inaugurate Basuki Hadimuljono as Head of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority, formalizing the post of Acting Head of the Auhority, which he had held in the past few months after being appointed by then President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in June 2024.
Basuki, who was also Minister of Public Works and Housing (PUPR) in the Jokowi administration, confirmed his appointment as the definitive Head of IKN Authority by President Prabowo.
“I’m not getting ahead of myself, but according to thenMinister of State Secretary Pratikno and pak Jokowi, I have been asked to remain at the IKN Authority,” Basukitold journalists at the PUPR Ministry on Monday, October 21, 2024.
The Presidential Decree on the appointment of Basuki as the definitive Head of IKN Authority is being processed by the State Secretariat.
Basuki said that the focus of his duties as Head of IKN Authority is to accelerate the implementation of the development programs of the new Capital City, a major project inherited from the country’s 7th President Joko Widodo.
PUPR ministry separation
In addition, Basuki had also been assigned by President Prabowo to assist in the process of separating the PUPR ministry into two new ministries, namely the Ministry of Public Works (PU) and the Ministry of Housing and Settlement.
“We were asked by Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (Rini Widyantini) to help prepare the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) regarding the separation of the PUPR ministry, including in the main tasks and functions of the two new organizations,” he said.
Basuki added that all existing systems in the PUPR ministry, including the human resources merit system, programming and monitoring system, and the procurement system for goods and services, will be divided equally between the Public Works Ministry and the Housing and Settlement Ministry.
When asked about the time needed for the harmonized separation of the two ministries, Basuki said the process could be faster as thorough preparation had been made beforehand.
“Based on experience, there must be prior recruitment, governance, data control, and RKA/KL (Work Plan and Budget) entry. But for the case of PUPR ministry, it will definitely be faster because we have prepared everything,” he said.
President Prabowo has inaugurated Dodi Hanggodo asMinister of Public Works with Diana Kusumastuti as his deputy, while Maruarar Sirait has been inaugurated as Minister of Housing and Settlement, with Fahri Hamzah as his deputy.
