This morning (19/8), President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visited East Java, but there was something different about the presidential plane. As is known, the presidential plane was repainted from the previous blue and white to red and white. The estimated cost of painting the plane into red and white reached Rp2.100.000.000,00.
The repainting of the Indonesian Presidential Aircraft-1 or BBJ 2 has caused criticism. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is considered insensitive to the current conditions in the country and viewed as a waste of the budget. An Aviation expert, Alvin Lie, argued that there was no urgency in the government’s spending on a newly repainted Indonesian presidential plane, especially considering that the plane has only just entered its seventh year into service and is seldomly used.
<meta charset=utf 8>Image Source Twitteralvinlie21
The criticism that came from the painting of the plane was then responded to by the Head of the Presidential Secretariat (Kasetpres), Heru Budi Hartono, on August 3, 2021. He said this step was not a form of waste because it did not take the budget from handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Heru also explained to the press, that the government had been planning to change the color of the plane since 2019. The color change was to commemorate the 75th Indonesian Independence Day in 2020. He emphasized that the budget for maintaining the presidential plane has been included in the state budget. Moreover, for handling COVID-19, the Ministry of State Secretariat has also refocused the 2020 and 2021 State Budget.
