PUPR Hands Over Lecture and Laboratory Buildings to Politap

Director General of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Wikan Sakarinto, S.T.M.Sc.Ph.D, virtually inaugurated the Operational Handover of the Lecture and Laboratory Buildings from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing of the Republic of Indonesia – Directorate General of Human Settlements to the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia – Directorate General of Vocational Education (Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic)). Also attending the event both virtually and in person were Director of Strategic Infrastructure of the Directorate General of Human Settlements of the Ministry of PUPR-RI Iwan Suprijanto, the Regent of Ketapang represented by Acting Regional Secretary of Ketapang Hironimus Tanam, Forkominda, heads of government agencies, Head of the West Kalimantan Regional Settlement Infrastructure Center, Head of the Settlement Infrastructure Implementation Task Force of West Kalimantan Province, the Pontianak PUPR team, heads of vertical work units, and industry leaders.

Director of Strategic Infrastructure of the Directorate General of Human Settlements of the Ministry of PUPR-RI Iwan Suprijanto, representing the Ministry of PUPR, stated that the construction of this Lecture and Laboratory Building was a national strategic project carried out by the Ministry of PUPR through the West Kalimantan Regional Settlement Infrastructure Center and marked the completion of Construction in Progress (KDP) that had been halted since 2015, in reference to Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 43 of 2019 on the Construction, Rehabilitation, or Renovation of Public Markets, Higher Education Infrastructure, and Primary and Secondary Education Units.

In his inauguration remarks, the Director General of Vocational Education expressed gratitude to the Ministry of PUPR Directorate General of Human Settlements for its support in improving the quality of human resources, especially in vocational education. He hoped that the 5,800 m2 building and laboratory could be utilized optimally to enhance the link and match between Politeknik Negeri Ketapang and industry. The fulfillment of building infrastructure is expected to boost students' passion to acquire the competencies required by industry, as well as lecturers' enthusiasm to work more optimally in producing innovative works that can benefit industry and society.

Meanwhile, the Regent of Ketapang, represented by Acting Regional Secretary Hironimus Tanam, expressed gratitude to the Ministry of PUPR and the Ministry of Education and Culture for their attention to human resource development in Ketapang Regency. As the only state higher education institution in Ketapang Regency, the regional government has fully supported the Polytechnic since its establishment through the issuance of a Regional Regulation supporting the polytechnic's founding. Therefore, the regional government will continue to encourage industry to provide full support to the Polytechnic in curriculum development programs, student and lecturer internships, support for industrial lecturers, and employee recruitment.

Meanwhile, Director of Politeknik Negeri Ketapang Endang Kusmana welcomed the completion of the lecture and laboratory building construction at Politeknik Negeri Ketapang. According to him, this infrastructure fulfillment serves as momentum to strengthen the link and match of vocational higher education at Politeknik Negeri Ketapang through the program Politap Membangun Vokasi Dari Desa with activities such as Superior Village, Synergy Village, Access Village, and Tourism Village. Endang added that Ketapang Regency possesses tremendous industrial potential, including 76 oil palm plantation companies and 48 mining companies all located in rural areas, so vocational education development in Ketapang will be fostered within the framework of cooperation between Vocational Higher Education (Polytechnics and SMK), Industry, and Regional/Village Governments.