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Securing key plots crucial for new capital projects: Experts
Preventing speculation and excessive increases in property and land prices is crucial for development of the new capital city, experts say.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center), Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (right) and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono inspect the government's plan to build a road to connect the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road with the site of the new capital city, which is to occupy a 256,000-hectare area in East Kalimantan's regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara. (Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/Lukas)
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ecuring key plots for projects related to Indonesia’s new capital in East Kalimantan is crucial to ensure speculative purchases of land do not hamper development, experts say.
Indonesia Property Watch (IPW) CEO Ali Tranghanda told The Jakarta Post on Nov. 25 that the government needed to secure strategic lands by buying or passing regulations to prevent speculative land buying and optimize special zoning in the planned city.
“The government must [pursue] a land control strategy to ensure that [land and property prices] are resistant to speculation,” said Ali. He suggested the government and state-owned enterprises set up land banks for the territory of the new capital city and accelerate the distribution of land before prices increase.
Voicing similar concerns, Soelaeman Soemawinata, who heads the new capital city working group at the Indonesian Real Estate Developers Association (REI), said on Nov. 26 that securing strategic lands would curb land speculation in the area.
“So far, I see that the government has carefully prepared [parts of the] land where the new capital city will be located,” Soelaeman said. He added that speculation might occur in the vicinity of the new capital, such as in Balikpapan and Samarinda, but not likely in the area of the new capital city itself.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced on Aug. 26, 2019, that the site chosen for Indonesia’s future capital was an area of 256,000 hectares located in two regencies of East Kalimantan, namely North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara.
According to current projections, the project will cost Rp 466 trillion (US$32.7 billion), only about 19 percent of which is to come from the state budget.
