From 0% DP homes to closing Alexis: What Anies promised he’d do as governor of Jakarta

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan speaking to members of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) during his campaign on Jan 2, 2017. FPI leader Rizieq Shihab is sitting to his right. Photo: Dokumentasi Tim Anies Baswedan
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan speaking to members of the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) during his campaign on Jan 2, 2017. FPI leader Rizieq Shihab is sitting to his right. Photo: Dokumentasi Tim Anies Baswedan

Although the results aren’t official yet, we all need to get used to the new reality of incoming Governor Anies Baswedan and Vice Governor Sandiaga Uno.

So now might be a good time to look back at some of what candidate pair #3 promised to do once they were in charge of Jakarta, so that we can prepare ourselves and hold them accountable as well.

Promised policies

There were 23 programs included in Anies and Sandi’s platform when they first registered with the General Election Committee (KPU). Of those, there were three that they highlighted as priority programs for implementation should they be elected.

The first is the OK-OCE entrepreneurship program, which is mainly the brainchild of former businessman Sandiaga Uno. OK-OCE stands for “One Kecamatan (district) One Center Entrepreneurship” and involves providing job training and providing business loans to small scale entrepreneurs.

The second of their priority initiatives is the KJP Plus program, which is simply an extension of the currently existing Smart Card Jakarta (KJP) program initiated by the current administration which gives lower-income Jakartans access to free healthcare and education. Anies-Sandi say their version of the program will give Jakarta residents better access to education in terms of quality as well.  The third is a plan to make basic goods more affordable through simplified distribution chains.

0% Down Payment Housing

The challengers’ biggest and most controversial policy proposal, which they unveiled after the first round of the election, was their 0% DP housing program. In a bid to attract lower-income voters (using something besides religion), Anies-Sandi promised that they had come up with a way for Jakartans to be able to purchase a home without having to pay any down payment whatsoever up front. The plan has been criticized by many for being unrealistic and Bank Indonesia said that it would actually violate national lending regulations.

Stopping the Jakarta Bay reclamation project

Anies Baswedan has pledged on numerous occasions to halt the controversial Jakarta Reclamation project, which involves dredging and the creation of several artificial islands in the bay. Activists have argued that the project is hurting the environment and the livelihood of people in the area, especially fishermen. Ahok had argued that project was already mandated by the law and that the revenue from developers was necessary to fund the “Giant Sea Wall” project that is needed to protect Jakarta from rapidly sinking into the ocean over the next few decades.

Building a new world-class stadium

Sandiaga Uno has said he would push for the building of a new Jakarta stadium that would be equivalent to world-class football stadiums in Europe and could hold around 85,000 people, possibly in Sunter, North Jakarta.

No more “tearful evictions”

Governor Ahok was criticized in many corners for the slum evictions carried out during his administration, which he argued were necessary to prevent the city from flooding but activists said were done illegally and inhumanely. Sandiaga Uno joined those critics and previously promised, “Anies and I will not evict residents forcefully from their homes. We’ll sit together to hear what solutions they want the most. No more tears.”

Closing the Alexis Hotel

One promise made by Anies that people are sure to remember is his call to close the infamous Alexis Hotel in North Jakarta, which is widely considered to be a high-class brothel (a claim which the Jakarta Tourism Ministry says they have checked out and found not to be true).

During one of the televised debates before the first round of the election, Anies criticized Ahok for only focusing on getting rid of the problem of prostitution and drugs at the street level (such as the Kalijodo evictions) while ignoring high-class establishments like Alexis. Ahok countered by saying his administration has already shut down two infamous nightlife establishments, Stadium and Milles.

Nevertheless, Anies reiterated his stance against Alexis, saying that it only remains open because the current administration turns a blind eye to it.

“Yes [we’ll shut it down]. Regardless of how hard we work [to better the city], the problem of drugs is ignored. Drugs can destroy everything,” Anies said as quoted by Kompas.

Sandiaga Uno has also said that he would push for more “sharia-based” nightlife in Jakarta, involving cultural shows and religious studies, which would make the capital more of a tourist destination.



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