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Jokowi’s dream of a new capital city takes a step closer to reality
Three days after he swore in the head of the new capital city authority, Jokowi flew to East Kalimantan where he is expected to visit the construction site for the country's new administrative center.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center), Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (right) and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono (left) discuss the government's plan to build a road to connect the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road with the new capital city in 2021. (Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/Lukas)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is pressing ahead with an ambitious plan to construct a new Indonesian capital in East Kalimantan, called Nusantara, making sure that the project moves forward before the end of his term.
On Sunday, three days after he swore in the head of the new capital city authority, Jokowi flew to East Kalimantan where he is expected to visit the construction site for the country's new administrative center.
With monumental achievements in infrastructure and industrial development already behind him, Jokowi's determination to forge ahead with his pandemic-delayed Rp 466 trillion (US$32.7 billion) capital relocation plan has underlined the value he attaches to making the project his crowning legacy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the country’s biggest nation-building project since its independence into disarray. But after a year of delays, the project was set in motion when the House of Representatives passed legislation in January that lays down the legal framework for the new administrative center.
Doubts that Jokowi can get the new capital city to a point of no return before his last term ends, however, persist amid political maneuverings at play over the past few weeks. Some party leaders within the ruling coalition have floated ideas about delaying the 2024 general elections, which would effectively extend Jokowi’s final term in the nation’s highest office.
Another step forward
On Thursday, Jokowi named Bambang Susantono, a 58-year-old civil engineer-turned-economist specializing in transport and infrastructure, as the head of the new capital city authority. Accompanying him is Dhony Rahajoe – the managing director president office of Sinar Mas Land, a private developer best known for building Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) City in Tangerang, Banten – as his deputy.
