Jayanty Nada Shofa, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is supposed to start working from the new capital Nusantara starting this month. Still, the outgoing leader recently revealed that he would move to the yet-to-be-built city once the water infrastructure is ready.

Construction work is currently taking place at the new capital project, which is set to be Jokowi's largest legacy. Jokowi, who will bow out of office this October, confirmed his plans to begin working from Nusantara in July, although he did not mention the date.

Speaking to reporters on Monday of the second week of the month, Jokowi said that the date of his relocation would depend on the water and electricity infrastructure.

"Is the water ready yet? Is the electricity ready yet? Is the place ready yet?" Jokowi told the press shortly after deploying Afghanistan-bound humanitarian aid from Jakarta on Monday.

Jokowi said he had already received reports on the latest updates for the megaproject from the Public Works Minister Basuki Hadimuljono. The reports stated the needed infrastructure was still not ready. Jokowi added: "Once they are ready, I will move."

Last month, Jokowi inaugurated the Sepaku Semoi dam which took up Rp 836 billion ($51.2 million) to construct.

The dam boasts a capacity of 16 million cubic meters. It can provide water to Nusantara at a rate of up to 2,000 liters per second. The neighboring Balikpapan also gets water at a rate of up to 500 liters per second. This was not the first time that Jokowi talked of water infrastructure being a decisive factor for his move. Jokowi said in early June that although he had already launched the Sepaku Semoi dam, the Nusantara project was still waiting for the pumps that would allow the dam water to be distributed into the capital.

As for electricity, State-Owned Enterprise Minister Erick Thohir visited the Nusantara solar plant project just a few weeks ago. Erick at the time said that the solar plant was already operational, and had a production capacity of 10 megawatts. According to Erick, the Nusantara capital –which lies in East Kalimantan– currently needs only 1 megawatt of electricity. Jokowi and his successor Prabowo Subianto are planning to celebrate independence day in the new capital this August. Erick claimed that the solar plant should also be ready to support the celebration's electricity needs.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/is-the-water-ready-yet-jokowi-on-plans-to-work-from-new-capita