JAKARTA: The government is set to put large-scale infrastructure projects on hold as it seeks a trade-off to prioritise more urgent needs in food, energy and water security, all of which are pillars of President Prabowo Subianto’s agenda, Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo has said.

“Major projects like building dams will be paused for now,” Dody said this week, as quoted from Bisnis.com.

“What we already have today, we’ll optimise to 110% to support food, energy and water security,” he added.

The budget shift aligns with Prabowo’s priority in the so-called “quick win” initiatives, and existing resources will instead be channelled to programmes supporting agriculture, energy and water security, such as revitalising existing dams and irrigation systems to bolster food production.

The government targets having 259 operational dams by 2025, according to the ministry, a figure deemed sufficient to secure the nation’s food supply.

Funding for new infrastructure is currently frozen at the directive of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Dody further said, pending coordination among ministries under the leadership of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).

“Without a clear, unified plan led by Bappenas, we can’t move forward,” he said.

The previous administration under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo initially earmarked 116.22 trillion rupiah for the former Public Works and Housing Ministry in next year’s state budget.

Prabowo has split the ministry into the Public Works Ministry and the Public Housing and Settlements Ministry.

However, much of this funding will now be redirected to critical food security programmes rather than initiating new large-scale projects.

“We’ll make the most of what we have,” Dody added, emphasising the goal of maximising utility within the current budget.

The government had allocated a record budget of 139.4 trillion rupiah for food security programmes in 2025, a nearly 22% jump in the government’s food security budget in a bid to fulfil Prabowo’s promise to achieve food self-sufficiency during his five-year term.

This includes 15 trillion rupiah allotted for food production programmes, including the development of so-called food barns at the national, regional and village levels, intensified rice production on 80,000 ha of land and creating 150,000 ha of new rice fields.

He has also urged all ministries to cut down spending on ceremonial events, both national and international, and instead reallocate the saved funds to productive public services and supporting the administration’s costly priority programmes, including the free meals programme and public housing.

Other priority programmes include health care, such as free medical check-ups and improved hospitals in the regions, as well as education, such as renovating schools and constructing “distinguished schools”.

 - ANN