Jakarta: The long-discussed plan to move Indonesia’s capital away from Jakarta is getting more real by the month. Following president has announced that the country’s capital will be moved from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta to East Kalimantan province.
President Joko Widodo told a news conference Monday the decision to choose the province on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island, which is shared with Malaysia and Brunei, has gone through in-depth studies.
He said the most ideal site for the new capital will be between Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara districts.
The Indonesian government has long discussed the possibility of moving the nation’s capital to another city in the archipelago, which could potentially help solve many of Jakarta’s most pressing urban problems (traffic, pollution, overpopulation, etc.) as well as lead to more balanced economic development for the country if the seat of power was moved outside of Java.
Jakarta is a sprawling metropolis of 10 million people that swells to three times that number when counting those living in its greater metropolitan area.
The idea to relocate the capital was first proposed by the country’s founding father, President Soekarno, who suggested that the central government’s base of operations be moved to Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan in 1957. President Jokowi’s government is the latest to revive the idea, first tentatively announcing relocation plans in 2017 and then moving forward with them aggressively after the incumbent sealed his second term by winning April’s presidential election.
