JAKARTA: Nusantara, designated as the new capital city’s name, symbolises Indonesia’s national character as a maritime nation united by seas (pic), Minister of National Development Planning and National Development Planning Agency Head Suharso Monoarfa stated.
“Nusantara is a geographic concept of the country that is made of islands and united by seas,” Monoarfa stated at the meeting session with the parliamentary working committee for the National Capital Bill in the Parliament Complex.
The name Nusantara also reflects Indonesia’s diverse culture and ethnicities in various islands united by seas and as a maritime country, he remarked.
“Nusantara is also a concept of unity that embraces diversity.
The Nusantara name will epitomise Indonesia’s actual condition,” the minister noted.
Earlier, the House of Representatives’ (DPR RI’s) parliamentary working committee for the National Capital Bill had agreed to designate Nusantara as the name of the new national capital after most parliamentary fractions expressed their agreement to the proposal.
Among the parliamentary fractions, eight caucuses concurred to the motion, while the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) fraction and the Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) urged the motion to be decided later after further deliberations.
“Regarding article 1, paragraph 2 (of the bill) on Nusantara as the name of the new national capital, we have eight fractions that concurred, while the PKS fraction and the DPD RI requested for the government’s further explanation (about the motion),” the working committee deputy chair, Junimart Girsang, stated at the committee meeting session.
As the motion is passed, Girsang clarified that issues regarding article 1, paragraph 2 of the bill had been sorted out, and the government will prepare a written explanation to answer questions requested by the PKS fraction and the DPD RI.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo meanwhile inspected the Tunnel 2 construction project for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail on Monday afternoon.
“I have monitored the construction progress of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project together with the Coordinating Minister (Luhut Pandjaitan), ministers, and also the West Java Governor, especially Tunnel 2, where there are technical issues that must be resolved,” said the President after reviewing the project in Purwakarta, West Java.
He was informed on the field that the construction progress of the tunnel was a bit slow due to the land condition. To date, the project has reached 79.9 percent completion.
Railway developer KCIC president director Dwiyana Slamet Riyadi explained to the state head that the tunnel construction was delayed due to clay shale soil in the area.
“There have been a number of landslides caused by the clay shale here so that the progress may slow down later,” he said.
However, the construction team and experts have found a solution to this problem, which is performing surface grouting. This method allowed the contractor to normally carry out excavations for the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail.
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