On August 18, 2023, the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (CMMAI) held the inaugural meeting of the Green Infrastructure Initiative (GII) National Task Force at Pullman Hotel, Jakarta, as well as on online mode via the platform Zoom.

Ibu Nani Hendiarti providing opening remarks at the inaugural meeting of GII National Task Force

This meeting aims to discuss the current status of the  Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) result of GII projects, their continuation to the  Feasibility Study (FS) phase and the process of incorporating them into the Bappenas Blue Book.  

The continuity of these project proposals is referring to the results of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing’s (MoPWH) review as submitted by the Minister’s letter to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment on July 18, 2023. For the urban public transportation sector, the progression of the projects is alluding to the results of the Ministry of Transportation’s (MoT) review as conveyed by the Minister of Transportation’s Letter to the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment on February 23, 2023.

This meeting was attended by Echelon I officials as the Chairman and Deputy Chief Executive of the GII National Task Force, namely Coordinating Deputy for Environmental and Forestry Management of the CMMAI, Mrs. Nani Hendiarti, Director General for Human Settlements of the Ministry of PUPR, Mrs. Diana Kusumastuti, and Deputy for Infrastructure of Bappenas, Mr. Ervan Maksum. Members of the Nat

ional Task Force from various ministries were also present,  including Director of Sanitation, Directorate General of Human Settlements and team, Head of Sub-Directorate of Planning of the Directorate of Drinking Water and team, and Head of Sub-Directorate of Foreign Grants and Loan from Directorate of SSPIP and team. Meanwhile,  Bappenas was represented by the Director of Bilateral Funding, and the Director of Transportation. The Ministry of Transportation was represented by  the Head of Planning, Planning Bureau, and Head of Land and Urban Infrastructure Financing. In addition, the meeting was also attended by the GII Provincial Task Force represented by the Regional Secretary of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province, the Head of the NTT Provincial Bappeda and the Head of Infrastructure and Regional Development of the Central Java Provincial Bappeda. Meanwhile,  the counterparts from West Java, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta Special Region, and Bali joined online. The German side was led by the Chargé d’Affairs of the German Embassy, Mr. Thomas Graf, the Counselor of Cooperation of the German Embassy, Principal Advisor GID / GIZ  and team, as well as KfW and team.

In her opening remarks, Mrs. Nani Hendiarti stated that GII could support Indonesia to deal immediately with urban decarbonization programs and achieve RPJMN (mid-term development plan) and other development targets. She also hoped that  the inaugural meeting  of the  National Task Force should  not only discuss the completed PFS documents, but also raise the decision on which project proposals are recommended to proceed  to the  FS  process and which do not need to proceed to the next process.

This meeting was divided into several discussion  sessions based on GII’s thematic issues of Water and Wastewater, Solid Waste, and Urban Public Transport. The discussion in the drinking water and wastewater sector was led by Assistant Deputy for Watershed Management and Natural Resources Conservation of CMMAI Mr. Saleh Nugrahadi, the solid waste sector was led by Assistant Deputy for Waste of the CMMAI, Mr. Rofi Alhanif, and the urban public transportation sector was led by Assistant Deputy for Infrastructure Connectivity of CMMAI, Mr. Rachman Hidayat.

One of the important points of discussion was the readiness criteria to enter the revision of the  2023 Blue Book. Three GII project proposals, Bengawan Solo Ayu (water sector),  Kediri Landfill, and Integrated Citarum Wastewater Management can be continued to enter the Blue Book. Director of Sanitation of PUPR, Mr. Tanozisochi Lase emphasized that project proposals can only be included in the Blue Book provided that Bappenas allows project proposals  to be included in  the Blue Book using PFS reports, has a clear mechanism and timeline for PFS and FS completion,  and the readiness the institution that will be responsible for processing PFS and FS grants.

Meanwhile, from the urban public transportation sector, Mr. Rachman Hidayat conveyed his hopes that public transportation projects in cities outside GII’s partner provinces should be encouraged to be included in GII’s portfolio as well. However, the Head of Planning, Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation stated that for now there are only 4 projects that are the priorities of the MoT; BRT Surabaya, LRT Bandung, SRRL Phase 2, and BRT Semarang. These activities are priority so they need to fulfill the readiness criteria. For other GII projects that are not in priority, they are directed to enter the next RPJMN considering that this year’s funding allocation is not possible for additional projects.

Furthermore, the discussion in the solid waste sector discussed the status of several GII solid waste proposals. First, for the  Solid Waste Management (SWM)  project for the renaturation of the Suwung Landfill in Bali, MoPWH is still waiting for the decision from the Steering Committee because the conversion of the landfill into green open space is not part of the main functions of the Directorate of Sanitation. Second, Rebana Regional Integrated SWM Proposal is now in PFS process, and it will be completed in the third quarter of 2023.

In conclusion, there were four proposed activities from 18 proposed GII projects, namely  Integrated Citarum Domestic Wastewater Management (ICDWM), Bengawan Solo Ayu in the field of Drinking Water, Kediri Regional Landfill, and BRT Surabaya. The aforementioned projects will be proposed to be included in the Blue Book, provided that  the supporting technical matters and RC documents for the four projects have been finalized and fulfilled. In addition, other proposals that are still in the form of dossiers will be discussed and determined in the third Steering Committee meeting. The decision of which projects to continue or stop will be decided at the next NTF meeting next month.