"We have deployed four aircraft (with weather modification technology) for air conditioning, but it is still raining," he stated on the sidelines of the 2024 National Road Safety Week (PNKJ) Kickoff in Jakarta, Sunday.
According to him, the biggest challenge in building the VVIP IKN Airport, which is called Nusantara Airport, is the continuous rain in the East Kalimantan region.
For example, the working days in June used to carry out the construction work were only eight days due to heavy rain.
Therefore, his party teams up with the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) to carry out weather modification efforts to support the construction of the airport.
Sumadi informed that his party had also been invited by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on July 25 to report the progress of the airport construction.
The IKN VVIP Airport is targeted to start operating on August 1, 2024, to support the ceremony of Indonesia Independence Day on August 17 at IKN.
The progress of the physical work at IKN Airport up to the 25th week has covered several aspects, including steel work, installation of plumbing pipes, roofs, walls, and electricals at the VVIP Terminal, column work, and installation of plumbing pipes and steel frames at the VIP Terminal.
Followed by structural work on floors 1-4 of the ATC Building, pile cap work and plumbing installations in the Administration and Operations Building, minipile work and plumbing pipes in the PK-PPK Building, and the structural work on the substation building.
Work on other aspects had also been carried out, such as the structural work on the house of worship building, quarantine lab structure work, minipile work on power house buildings, cut & fill work, U-ditch excavation, geotextiles, aggregates on the Main Access Road (uditch), retention basin, West Perimeter Road, foundation work piling of the Pump Room and GWT Building, STP, as well as foundation work for the official residence.
Previously, President Jokowi said that development progress at IKN had fallen behind the initial target due to heavy rain.
The delay has also caused the President's plan to work at IKN, which was scheduled to start this July, to be postponed.
According to him, delays in infrastructure development in IKN due to weather factors are commonplace in large projects.
However, the head of state emphasized that basic infrastructure such as water and electricity supplies would be ready shortly.
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Translator: Muhammad Harianto, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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