Gabriel Budi Sutrisno · · 1 min readJokowi names interim tech minister amid incumbent’s detention
Interim tech minister Mahfud MD / Photo credit: Mahfud MD Instagram account
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has appointed Mahfud MD, the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs, to temporarily lead the country’s communication and information technology ministry.
President Jokowi revealed the latest appointment to local media at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base on Friday, ahead of his departure to Japan to attend the G7 Summit.
This decision comes after the incumbent minister, Johnny Gerard Plate, was detained on Wednesday as a corruption suspect linked to a 4G wireless base station project.
The project was aimed at expediting the provision of high-speed telecommunication services across Indonesia. It was led by the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency under Plate’s ministry.
The government said that the state losses incurred due to the alleged corruption are estimated at 8.3 trillion rupiah (US$557 million).
See also: Former public officials joining tech companies: a rising trend in Indonesia
Currency converted from Indonesian rupiah to US dollar: US$1 = 14,937 rupiah.
Editing by Thu Huong Le and Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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