REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KENDARI -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has canceled his plan to visit Wakatobi District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, on May 1, 2016, according to District Head Hugua.

"We received a notification from the minister/state secretary on Wednesday evening regarding the cancellation of the president's visit to Wakatobi," Hugua remarked during a telephonic conversation from the Wakatobi district town of Wangiwangi on Thursday.

According to the district head, President Jokowi's planned visit to Wakatobi was to inaugurate the operations of Matahora airport terminal whose construction has been completed in mid-2015.

The airport terminal, which costs more than Rp18 billion, had functioned since mid-2015 but had not been officially inaugurated.

"We are still awaiting further confirmation from the minister/secretary of state, if the scheduled inauguration of the airport terminal is delayed, or whether Vice President Mohammad Jusuf Kalla will come to inaugurate it," Hugua noted.

He stated that the Matahora airport terminal, which was scheduled to be inaugurated on May 1, 2016, had facilities of international standard.

Hugua pointed out that in 2015, the management of the airport terminal had received an award from the Ministry of Transportation for being the best among all airports in the same category as Matahora.

"We will continue to encourage the improvement of the management systems at the Matahora airport terminal as it has now become an economic gateway and entry point for foreign tourists in eastern Indonesia," Hugua noted.

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