Last Friday, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo asked for the House of Representatives’ consent for his plan to move the capital city to Kalimantan. The exact location, however, remains undisclosed. For now, there are two probable locations: Taman Hutan Raya (Tahura) Bukit Soeharto in East Kalimantan or a location called the “triangle area” between two regencies (Gunung Mas and Katingan) and Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan. Both locations are historically rich. East Kalimantan once hosted the oldest kingdom in Indonesian history, namely Kutai Martadipura. Central Kalimantan is no less historically compelling. In the 1950s and 1960s, Indonesia’s first president Sukarno expressed his intention to move the capital city to Palangkaraya. Further, moving the capital to the heart of Borneo is yet another challenge for the environment, which is currently ...

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