Jakarta – Unprompted, Minister of Housing and Settlements Maruarar Sirait claims the ministry has built 157,000 houses around 5.2 percent of the ambitious target of 3 million homes promised by President Prabowo Subianto. The number sounds impressive if only the public is aware of where these houses are.

The problem is, until today, there is no transparent data or distribution map that can support the claim that such low-cost houses exist. Maruarar has announced a major claim to the public while the 3-million-homes project still has not resolved its most basic stage involving regulations, financing model, and implementation plan.

Since the start, a thick fog has surrounded the housing program. Despite being touted as a solution to the housing crisis faced by millions of low-income citizens, as of mid-2025, the program did not yet have a clear roadmap. Its source of financing is not yet clear, nor has its mechanism for execution been detailed. Strangely, the government still boasts about these low-cost and even free houses as if they are still campaigning.

Maruarar's recent statement has made matters worse. For example, he carelessly mentioned several private-sector projects as part of the government program. He even claimed the renovations of three houses by the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation in Kampung Raya, Jakarta, in April 2025, as his ministry's achievement.

Furthermore, Muararar has claimed that the small 14-square-meter house exhibited by Lippo Group is a model for the future of the 3-million-homes program, despite homes under 36 square meters being in violation of the housing law and are socially considered unfit for habitation.

Maruarar's move to mix the ministry's program with developers social responsibility does not only create the illusion of success but also blurs the strict boundary between the government's duties and market interests.

Muararar has also revised the parameters for receiving subsidized homes. The maximum-income requirement was raised from Rp8 million to Rp14 million per month. This decision may benefit developers as it expands the market, but it poses a great risk of marginalizing poor communities. With more competitors and demand from the middle-income group, low-income families those who need housing assistance the most may end up not being benefited.

In terms of financing, Maruarar's statement is just as contradictory. He blatantly refused the World Bank's offer of a US$1-billion loan for the sake of safeguarding the nation's independence, despite having complained about the government's limited budget.

Even if Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara provides Rp130 trillion via the housing micro credit (KUR) program, the amount will not satisfy the real need of the housing program. To build 1 million houses in urban settings already requires around Rp240 trillion, meaning even if all of the KUR funds are absorbed, there will still be a deficit of over Rp100 trillion.

With so many hurdles such as the absence of regulations, overlapping policies, limited financing, and political interests in the program's execution the odds of the 3-million-homes program becoming a success seem to be waning. Not only because the program is overly ambitious but because since the start, there has not been a convincing basis nor orientation.

– Read the complete story in Tempo English Magazine

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2023615/homes-for-the-poor-a-questionable-clai