Pledge to Kiss KDM's Knee, West Kalimantan Deputy Governor Highlights Vast Differences in Provincial Size and Budget
West Kalimantan Deputy Governor Krisantus Kurniawan has responded to residents’ remarks in Sepauk, Sintang Regency, who compared road conditions in West Java to those in his province.
In his response, he stated that he would kiss the knee of West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi (KDM) if it were possible to build West Kalimantan’s roads with the existing APBD of Rp6 trillion.
On the same occasion, he also explained the imbalance between the APBDs and the sizes of the two provinces.
According to him, West Kalimantan is larger than West Java, but its APBD is several times smaller than that of the province led by KDM.
Citing detikKalimantan, these statements were made by Krisantus when opening the Musrenbang at the Sintang Regent’s Pendopo, West Kalimantan, on Thursday (9/4).
On that occasion, Krisantus said he had directly watched a video of residents’ complaints about damaged roads in Bedayan, SP 3, Sepauk Subdistrict, Sintang Regency, which went viral on TikTok. He said that in the video, the road conditions in West Kalimantan were compared to infrastructure in West Java.
“A few days ago, I watched a TikTok from my village in Sepauk. People from Sepauk–I don’t know if they are real Sepauk residents or not–were vigorously comparing the damaged roads to West Java Province,” said Krisantus.
He emphasised that such comparisons are not fair, due to the vast differences in territorial size and budgetary capacity.
According to him, West Java has an area of around 43,000 square kilometres with an APBD exceeding Rp30 trillion. Meanwhile, Krisantus continued, West Kalimantan has an area of around 171,000 square kilometres, but is supported by an APBD of just over Rp6 trillion.
“In that video, someone [said] lend Dedi Mulyadi for three months. Make him [KDM] the Governor of West Kalimantan, we’ll swap. I want to see if he can build West Kalimantan with an APBD of six trillion, I’ll kiss his knee,” Krisantus stated firmly.
According to Krisantus, the larger the area, the greater the infrastructure development costs that must be borne by the local government.
“Go ahead, make Dedi Mulyadi the Governor of West Kalimantan. I want to see, but building West Kalimantan with an APBD of Rp6 trillion. If he can do it, I’ll kiss his knee,” Krisantus reiterated when opening the Musrenbang at the Sintang Regent’s Pendopo, West Kalimantan, on Thursday (9/4), as quoted from detikKalimantan.
Not idle in addressing damaged roads
Nevertheless, Krisantus assured that the West Kalimantan provincial government down to the regency/city levels is not idle. He said that handling of damaged roads in the Sintang area, including Bedayan, has already begun.
He revealed that the regency government has deployed equipment from the Road and Bridge Implementing Unit (UPJJ) to carry out repairs on the viral route.
“Road and bridge infrastructure in Sintang is indeed challenging with the existing fiscal capacity. But the government will not stand idly by,” he stated firmly.
Previously, residents’ complaints about damaged roads in Bedayan became widely discussed after a video uploaded by a resident named Elisabet went viral on social media. In the video, she even called for attention from West Kalimantan Governor Ria Norsan and mentioned Dedi Mulyadi’s name.
“Please, Kang Dedi. Our road is in tatters. Our governor seems to have fainted. No building of our roads,” she said in the video.
The upload then spread widely and sparked various public reactions, including from children in the area who also voiced the condition of roads in their region.