"This is a follow-up to President Joko Widodo's mandate decided at the plenary cabinet session on July 18, 2018, that directed the Ministry of Public Works and Housing to expedite the construction and renovation of some 10 thousand schools and madrasas across Indonesia," Head of Center for Development of Education, Sports, and Market Infrastructure Centers (PSPPOP) of the ministry Iwan Suprijanto noted in a written statement on Saturday.
Suprijanto confirmed that his side had steadily completed the rehabilitation and renovation of schools, and its target for 2019 was set at two thousand schools and 300 madrasas.
Within the next two years, the schools and madrasas on top priority are those lying in the 3T, or Frontier, Outermost, and Disadvantaged, regions, which are in accordance with Village Minister's Decree No. 126 of 2017 on Priority Village for Development of Village, Disadvantage Region, and Transmigration.
Next criteria are public schools, land belonging to the regional government and willing to accept assets, possessing Building Construction Permits (IMB), having no other funding sources, and from the results of verification, the PUPR Ministry has categorized them as heavily damaged.
The ministry will also conduct further development for 41 State Universities (PTN) and nine state Islamic Universities (PTKIN) that are targeted for completion by mid-2020.
Suprijanto stated that Rp6.5 trillion was earmarked for the handling of educational facilities, with emphasis on prudence.
"We have to begin with a technical audit to conduct feasibility, followed by a technical study of the structure of the building, technical planning, or a review of different plans before we rebuild," he elaborated.
Criteria for the development of PTN and PTKIN are land owned by PTN, PTKIN, or related institutions and ministries; buildings not embroiled in disputes or legal issues; prioritized buildings that are no more than 50 percent complete; those possessing Amdal and IMB; and those for which audits of BPKP and building feasibility audits have been conducted.
In addition to educational facilities, the ministry in 2019 will also conduct market renovation, with the criteria being prioritizing nine markets experiencing fire disasters, land owned by the regional government and not involved in dispute, and not the public market of type A, B, C, and D.
The Atas Bukittinggi Market in Bukittinggi City, Aksara Market in Medan City, and Prawirotaman Market in Yogyakarta City are among those scheduled for rehabilitation.
The PSPPOP is also tasked with building sports facilities to welcome the XX National Sports Week (PON) in 2020 to be held in Papua Province, with the target not exceeding July 2020, as they will be used in September.
Suprijanto elaborated that PSPPOP had to offer technical guidance and handle the construction of educational, sports, and market facilities and infrastructure, but not all are overseen by the PUPR ministry, as some of the matters yet come under the Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Ministry of Trade and Regional Government.
Translator: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
