By: Syarifudin)*
The nation’s capital city (IKN) was designed with great care because it is a symbol of the beauty of Indonesia. Apart from being aesthetic, the design will adopt the practice of mitigating the risk of infectious diseases, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The nation’s capital city will be moved from DKI Jakarta to North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan. This transfer is a major project that cannot be done in just a few months, but is predicted to take more than 5 years for Indonesia to have a modern IKN.
How about IKN design? For the size of a capital city, the design must be serious, because the typology of land and contours in Kalimantan is very different from that in Java. Architects, urban planning experts and civil engineering work together in order to realize an IKN that is neatly organized and at the same time loves the environment.
In addition to being designed effectively and artistically, the design of the IKN also practices the risk mitigation of infectious diseases. Head of the State Intelligence Agency General Pol (Purn) Budi Gunawan stated, “IKN Nusantara is designed to be ready to face a pandemic if it might occur in the future. IKN design draws lessons from the corona pandemic. So, the city is not only advanced, green and high-tech, but also ready to face the pandemic.”
In a sense, we will be proud because we have the capital city of the archipelago, which not only has advanced and environmentally friendly technology, but is also ready to face the pandemic. Mitigation must indeed be prepared to face the worst possibilities.
This preparation is important because first, we don’t know when the pandemic will end, aka the status will change to endemic. If IKN is ready to be inhabited by migrants moving from DKI Jakarta, it will be neatly organized and safe from all kinds of diseases. The reason is because there is already mitigation from the risk of a pandemic and the risk of other infectious diseases.
General Pol (Purn) Budi Gunawan continued, “IKN development during the pandemic is okay. In fact, now is the time to show IKN as a formidable city during the pandemic. A strong city design to face all disasters and epidemics will complement the national resilience system in the health sector. In addition, the development and development of independent production of vaccines, medicines, and equipment as well as strengthening surveillance systems, forecasting and analytics as part of medical intelligence.
In a sense, the modern city does not only have skyscrapers. But there is also medical intelligence. So that later there will be hospitals and other health centers with representative doctors and medical equipment. In addition, there are manufacturers of medicines and vaccines so that if there is another pandemic (although we pray that there will be no more), they are 100% ready.
Medical intelligence is very important because if the pandemic turns endemic, the Covid-19 virus will still exist but only in certain areas. It could be that the area is Kalimantan, and if it does happen, it will be ready with various medical devices and medicines.
In addition to facing the possibility of a pandemic, the construction of a health center and a medicine factory plus vaccines is also important because in Kalimantan there are still other dangerous diseases (besides Corona), namely malaria. We are obliged to prevent migrants from contracting this disease from mosquitoes, therefore there must be strict care of hygiene and good quality health centers.
The design of the national capital of the archipelago will be not only beautiful and high-tech, but also practice risk mitigation of infectious diseases. The community is waiting for when IKN will be inaugurated and become a city that is ready to face various risks of the pandemic.
)* The author is a contributor to the press circle and a student of Cikini
