The project to move the Indonesian capital from Jakarta to North Penajam Paser in East Kalimantan might be delayed by COVID-19. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Jakarta (VNA) – The project to move the Indonesian capital fromJakarta to North Penajam Paser in East Kalimantan might be delayed by COVID-19as the government shifted some of its budget to pandemic relief efforts,according a government official.
Jodi Mahardi, spokesperson of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, said there have been no further talks on the budgetfor the project as the ministry is following orders from President Joko Widodoto focus on fighting COVID-19.
The ministry’s focus now is to seekappropriate measures to cope with the pandemic as instructed by the President,Jodi said.
He added that the government has beenreallocating spending in non-critical and non-urgent categories to anti-coronavirusprogrammes.
Although a large amount of investment in thenew capital development is expected to come from private investors, the governmenthas also allocated around 6.3 billion USD from the state budget for the projectover the next five years.
Most of this money was supposed to be spent onland clearance and construction of basic infrastructures at the end of 2020./.
