Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia’s President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo urged regional leaders to build MRT systems using their regional budgets.
As he stated in the opening of the national working meeting of the Association of Indonesian Municipal Government (Apeksi), “I challenge regional government capable of constructing high-cost mas transportation systems, such as Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rapid Transit (LRT), or high-speed trains with regional budgets. Please coordinate with the Minister of Transportation if the regional budget is sufficient. For example, it can be a 50-50 split, 50% from the regional and 50% from the national budgets. Because if not, in 10-20 years, all cities will be congested,”
Furthermore, the President reminded attendees about the concept of future cities. According to him, a future city is not one filled with high-rise buildings but rather one that is pedestrian-friendly, accessible for people with disabilities, cyclist-friendly, and accommodating for women and children.
“Instead of only building concrete structures, the city must be green, smart, and friendly. There should be sidewalks with paving blocks, but grass pavers should be used for more greenery. Pedestrian paths should have trees because we live in a tropical country, and it is hot, so people need shade to walk comfortably. Therefore, greenery will be a key focus for all cities moving forward,” President Jokowi emphasized.
In the forum attended by mayors from Indonesia, the President praised Balikpapan and Surabaya for their effective implementation of green city concepts. He urged other cities to follow these examples and the Nusantara Forest City concept that will be applied in the new capital city, IKN.
“To reiterate, cities must be green, shady, pedestrian-friendly, cyclist-friendly, and have urban forests, town squares, and large parks. That is the future city concept. A city must be redesigned if it is already filled with buildings and concrete. This might involve reducing some buildings and purchasing and repurposing them as city parks. There’s no other way if it’s already too late,” Jokowi concluded.
