T

he names of a number of Indonesian cities have circulated among the public following discussions on where, if anywhere, to move the country’s administrative capital.

Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan, Jonggol in West Java and Jayapura in Papua are among the proposed names.

Presidential special staff member Velix Wanggai said Tuesday that President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono was also aware Jakarta had showed signs of being “overloaded” in its feasibility and service functions as a capital city.

“However, choosing a specific region as the new site of the capital is not yet part of the government’s immediate agenda.”

“As for now, the President’s special staff office is discussing three possible contexts [of relocation], all of which will fall under the categories of ‘realistic, moderate, and radical’ scenarios,” Velix said.

He added the government was most likely to implement the “realistic scenario,” in which Jakarta would remain the capital, while helping the Jakarta administration overhaul its management of spatial planning, transportation, and drainage systems, to name a few.

Velix said the government also perceived the problems of Jakarta through different perspectives, not only through those of traffic management and flooding.

Velix said the President had considered all of Jakarta’s current “cons”, including the recurring problems of traffic gridlock and flooding, over population, urbanization, environmental destruction and the city’s susceptibility to earthquakes.

Recently, the President’s motorcade has recently come under the spotlight after a driver wrote a letter to Kompas daily newspaper, complaining about the traffic jams caused by the President every time he commuted to or from his home in Cikeas, West Java.

The letter received a myriad of comments, all complaining about how top officials’ motorcades regularly disrupt the city’s traffic.

Velix went on to say that, as part of the realistic scenario, the government would also focus on boosting regional development, particularly in underdeveloped areas.

The moderate scenario, he continued, revolved around the idea of moving the capital from Jakarta to a large city in Java, such as Jonggol or Bandung, both in West Java; Purwokerto and Magelang in Central Java or Malang, East Java.

“The radical scenario is to relocate the capital from Jakarta to cities outside Java, even as far as to Jayapura, Papua,” he added.

The government is set to develop Sumatra, Kalimantan, Maluku, Papua, and East and West Nusa Tenggara through fiscal decentralization programs and by grouping them into economic zones, while maintaining economic growth in Java and Bali.

The President also believes it would take a lot of thought and comprehensive analyses before the capital is relocated, Velix added.

In a historical context, the relocation plan was once trumpeted by former president Sukarno, who nominated Palangkaraya as the country’s capital. Another former president, Soeharto, proposed Jonggol as a substitute for Jakarta. (tsy)