Jakarta – Infrastructure development during President Joko Widodo’s administration has proven to provide a positive multiplier effect for the Indonesian economy and society to the remote areas of the country, including the Underdeveloped, Frontier and Outermost (3T) regions. A series of achievements that have been made by Jokowi are considered worthy of being called the Father of National Infrastructure.
Professor of the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (FEB UI) Telisa Aulia Falianty told the media that President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) performance deserves the highest appreciation as the Father of National Infrastructure.
“He is the father of Indonesian infrastructure. Our state budget is around more than Rp 400 – 500 trillion per year allocated for infrastructure development,” Telisa told the media.
According to him, during the 10 years of President Joko Widodo’s administration, infrastructure development has been the government’s focus, so it is clear that infrastructure development facilitates connectivity, basic services and food distribution.
According to Telisa’s view, this action is in line with the aspirations contained in Nawacita. The document underlines one of the main programs of the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin government, namely the effort to develop Indonesia starting from peripheral areas.
“This is also what needs to be appreciated from President Joko Widodo’s government. Developing the outermost regions certainly has costs in terms of visibility of the economy, it is not necessarily visible, but socially, the impact will continue to reduce inequality for people in the 3T areas. There are social values that can later support its economic value,” he said.
This strategy aims to increase the capacity and potential of regions and villages, while maintaining the principle of a unitary state. This approach reflects the government’s commitment to creating more equitable and inclusive development across the country.
“One of the successes of infrastructure development in the Jokowi era is creating air connectivity to the 3T region,” said Telisa.
For a decade, he continued, Indonesia has succeeded in expanding its network of new airports, rehabilitating and developing airports, and organizing pioneering air transportation to support connectivity and reduce price disparities in community needs in the 3T areas.
“So he (Jokowi) and of course his cabinet are those who are related to the development of connectivity in 3T. So if I see the development is quite significant. He also emphasized the importance of infrastructure in the 3T area. Well, this is what we need to appreciate for the past 10 years,” he said.
Previously, senior researcher at the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) Denny JA, Ardian Sopa, revealed that President Jokowi’s 2 terms of government were considered successful.
“From this report card data, we can actually judge that Jokowi’s government has been successful,” said Ardian through a press conference.
He explained that in 2014 when Jokowi first served as President of the Republic of Indonesia, GDP was only around IDR 891 billion with a ranking of 18. Meanwhile, GDP per capita was 3,477 US$ with a ranking of 144. However, in 2023, GDP rose to IDR 1.4 trillion with a ranking of 16 and GDP per capita was 4,941 US$ with a ranking that rose to 114.
“There is an increase in GDP of around 509 billion from 2014 to 2023,” he said.
Meanwhile, Litbang Kompas also released the results of a survey related to satisfaction with the performance of the government of President Jokowi and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin. The results showed that 75.6 percent of respondents were satisfied with the performance of the Jokowi-Ma’ruf government.
The survey was conducted from May 27 to June 2, 2024 through face-to-face interviews. The survey was conducted on 1,200 respondents who were randomly selected using a multilevel systematic sampling method in 38 provinces in Indonesia. The confidence level is 95 percent, the margin of error is approximately 2.83 percent.
President Jokowi is considered by many to have succeeded in leading Indonesia. Through infrastructure and human resource development and the National Economic Acceleration program, Jokowi has built a solid foundation towards a more Advanced Indonesia. President Joko Widodo is indeed worthy of being called the Father of National Infrastructure.