Mita Amalia Hapsari, Jakarta – Indonesia has already done a significant portion of the construction work for the airport in Indonesia's new capital Nusantara in East Kalimantan and everything is on track for the project to finish by Dec. 31, according to Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi.

The government has set a goal to have the construction finished by the end of this year. Budi, who came to check on the airport's progress in person on Sunday, remained upbeat about having the work completed by the said deadline. Budi reported that the overall construction work had reached 74.79 percent in progress.

"As of today, we have built 1,975 meters of runway. It is still within our target. I think we should be able to complete up to 2,200 meters of runway in the near future," Budi was quoted as saying in a press statement on Monday.

As of late August, the finished runway spanned 1,025 meters, but the construction work kept up to speed despite the rain, Budi said.

According to him, some facilities are also progressing quite well. The VVIP terminal is 90.16 percent complete, while the progress for the VIP terminal is at 77.06 percent. Progress for the air traffic control tower stood at 53.71 percent, while the operational and administrative building reached 61.03 percent. The building that will be dedicated to monitor aviation accidents is 68.71 percent complete.

"The construction is progressing well. The uncertain weather conditions have become quite a challenge, and have somewhat slowed us down. But everything remains on track," Budi said.

The work for the roads to facilitate access to the airport has already surpassed the halfway mark. The main access road is almost 98.53 percent ready. The west perimeter is 66.96 percent complete, while the eastern part has reached 50.44 percent in progress.

Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/threequarters-done-new-capital-airport-construction-to-finish-by-end202