DIGIVESTASI - The plans for the 79th Indonesian Independence Day celebration in the new capital, Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan, have been surrounded by various controversial issues, including rumors about renting thousands of Alphard cars and the use of a rain shaman. The government has firmly denied both claims.

First, regarding the rumor that the government would rent thousands of Alphard cars at a rate of IDR 25 million per day for guests attending the August 17, 2024 ceremony, Usman Kansong, Director General of Public Information and Communication at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo), asserted that this is not true. The government will be providing buses as the main transportation for guests to the ceremony location.

Usman also pointed out that if there were indeed thousands of luxury cars rented, traffic heading to IKN would undoubtedly be congested, and the government does not want this historic moment to be marred by traffic jams.

“We have clarified that Alphards will not be used to reach the ceremony site in IKN. Imagine if 1,000 Alphards were headed there, it would surely cause a traffic jam. Therefore, we will be using shuttle buses,” Usman explained during a virtual discussion hosted by Trijaya FM on Saturday (August 10, 2024).

He added that if there were any Alphards rented, it would likely be done by the guests themselves, not the government. The number of cars rented is also likely far fewer than reported.

Additionally, there were reports claiming that the government employed the services of a rain shaman to address the high rainfall in IKN. A rain shaman from Banyuwangi, East Java, named KRT Ilham Triadi Nagoro, claimed that he was tasked by the government to ward off rain in IKN. Ilham claimed to have successfully warded off rain for 12 days while working in IKN.

However, Usman Kansong refuted this claim, emphasizing that the government never hired a rain shaman. Instead, the government utilized scientific weather engineering to reduce rainfall in IKN in the lead-up to the independence day ceremony.

“So, we want to stress that there was no order or request from the government to a rain shaman. That is a hoax. We used science and technology for weather modification,” Usman stated.

According to reports from Antara, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) was tasked with conducting weather modification operations to reduce rainfall in IKN starting on July 4, 2024. The Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), Basuki Hadimuljono, also confirmed that the government collaborated with BMKG in the weather modification operation (OMC) to ensure that weather conditions would not disrupt the preparations and execution of the independence day ceremony in IKN.

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