New UGM facilities worth Rp 900 billion inaugurated

New UGM facilities worth Rp 900 billion inaugurated

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Minister of National Education Malik Fadjar officially opened
on Tuesday 60 new buildings at Gadjah Mada University (UGM),
which were built at a total cost of about Rp 900 billion (US$106
million).

Measuring a total of 89,000 square meters, the
buildings belong to seven UGM departments: medicine, dentistry,
forestry, agriculture, agricultural technology, veterinary
medicine, and animal husbandry.

Construction of the buildings began in 1998, with the goal of
strengthening the academic quality of the departments.

"With these new buildings and departments that meet
international standards, UGM is one step ahead of others in
improving the quality of education.

"The new buildings will also help UGM be more competitive
against universities abroad," UGM rector Sofian Effendi said in a
speech during the inauguration ceremony.

He said the new buildings included lecture halls, discussion
rooms, lecturers' offices, administrative rooms, libraries and
laboratories.

The construction was made possible through a loan provided by
the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). The
construction of the 60 new buildings, according to Sofian, cost
nearly Rp 1 trillion, of which some Rp 800 billion came from the
JBIC loan.

"It is a very soft loan of 40 years with an interest rate of
only 3 percent a year and a grace period of 10 years," said
Sofian.

Because the project was based on an agreement between the
Indonesian government and the JBIC that was reached in
1998 while the university was still state-run, the loan is the
central government's responsibility.

"We only have to pay the operational and
maintenance fees," Sofian said.

Established in December 19, 1949, UGM became a private
university in December 1999. UGM has a stated goal of becoming
one of Asia's top 10 universities by 2020.

UGM currently has 18 schools with 2,262 lecturers and
nearly 60,000 students.