Army Chief Meets Prabowo, Reports on Bridge Construction
The Chief of Staff of the Indonesian National Army (KSAD) General Maruli Simanjuntak, along with his subordinates, met with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta. During the meeting held on Thursday, 16 April 2026, Maruli reported on the progress of bridge construction projects up to school renovations.
The meeting was conveyed by Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya through a written statement. “President Prabowo Subianto received KSAD General TNI Maruli Simanjuntak along with the main officials of the Indonesian Army at Merdeka Palace,” Teddy said in the statement.
In the meeting, Maruli reported on the development of the implementation of strategic tasks carried out by the Indonesian Army. According to Teddy, the Indonesian Army is collaborating with the Ministry of Public Works to promptly complete all forms of public facilities in villages to remote areas.
One of the project reports related to bridge construction in the country. “In the last three months, the Indonesian Army has completed the construction of 300 pioneering suspension bridges scattered throughout Indonesia,” Teddy stated.
In addition, in the last three months, the Indonesian Army has completed the renovation of 300 schools in three provinces affected by disasters in Sumatra. “Including the construction of 300 clean water bore points at those schools,” Teddy said.
Not only with the Indonesian Army ranks, Prabowo held several other meetings at the Presidential Palace today. Prabowo met with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia to discuss energy cooperation with Russia.
After meeting Prabowo, Bahlil announced that Russia will supply oil to Indonesia. In addition, according to Bahlil, Russia also expressed readiness to cooperate in building energy infrastructure in the country.
The General Chairman of the Golkar Party conveyed that these steps are the result of his meeting with the Russian Minister of Energy and the special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow a few days ago. The meeting took place after President Prabowo Subianto met Putin in the Russian capital.
Bahlil then reported the results of his negotiations to Prabowo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday, 16 April 2026. “Alhamdulillah, the news is quite encouraging, that we will receive a supply of crude oil (raw oil) from Russia,” Bahlil said after the meeting with the Head of State.