Depok, West Java, MINA — President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla laid the first cornerstone for the construction of the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII) campus in Cimanggis, here, Tuesday.
On the occasion, the head of state was accompanied by Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin; Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljno; Research, Technology, and Higher Education Minister M. Nasir; and Governor of West Java Province Ahmad Heryawan.
Construction of the UIII campus had been planned since the past two years, Antara News reported, citing Jokowi.n
The plan had been discussed for two years but finding the land was not easy, he noted.
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Jokowi said he was keen to allocate one thousand hectares of land for the UIII campus, but it was difficult to find land on Java Island.
“I offered (land) outside Java, but all teams disagreed,” he added.
“In fact, we get 142 hectares of land, which is far from one thousand hectares. However, after I observed it on the field, I was surprised, as 142 hectares of land is already quite vast. Alhamdulillah (thank God). Imagine if we could have got one thousand hectares,” Jokowi pointed out.
The president revealed that the design of the UIII campus will be futuristic and expressed hope that the UIII would become a study and research center of Islamic civilization in Indonesia. (T/RS5/RS1)
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