Ara Prepares New Weapon in Response to Prabowo's Jab on the Slow 3 Million Houses Programme

President Prabowo Subianto has criticised the 3 Million Houses programme for its slow progress. This sharp rebuke came directly from his inner circle through the Chairman of the Housing Task Force, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, who described the programme’s progress as still stuck at the “omon-omon” level, meaning No Action Talk Only. Hashim revealed this during the Launching of Housing Development to Support the 3 Million Houses Programme in Manggarai, Jakarta, on Monday (16/3/2026). “We must work harder. We must strive even harder,” said the man familiarly known as Ara, to Kompas.com on Tuesday (17/3/2026). To prove his hard efforts, Ara is preparing a new weapon in the form of a Ministry of Public Works and Housing (Kepmen PKP) decision scheduled to be issued at the end of March. This Kepmen Number …/KPTS/M/2026 regulates the selling price, floor area, interest rate, and financing tenure for apartment unit ownership in the implementation of the housing finance liquidity facility (FLPP). In the last five years (2021-2025), the subsidised apartment financing scheme through FLPP has only reached 140 units. This figure is practically insignificant compared to the national housing backlog that still stands at 9.6 million units. Jakarta presents the most dismal picture with a backlog rate of 40.6 per cent, meaning nearly half of the capital’s residents do not own their own homes. Through this new Kepmen, Ara has set an ambitious target of 50,000 units, which also serves as an effort to change the paradigm in providing subsidised vertical housing. Ara’s main strategy to address Prabowo’s doubts is to rely on precise data. Because previously, housing policies often missed the mark due to vague macro data. This time, the Ministry of PKP is collaborating with the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) to implement the By Name By Address system through the National Single Socio-Economic Data (DTSEN).