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Observers remain unconvinced of capital city relocation, CSIS survey finds
Despite the government’s efforts to push the idea of a new capital city both domestically and internationally, a survey revealed that most Indonesian observers remain doubtful.
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President Joko "Jokowi” Widodo (center) pours water brought by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (right), as East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor (third left) looks on, during a Kendi Nusantara ritual at the site for Indonesia's new capital city Nusantara in Sepaku district, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, on March 14. (Courtesy of Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau /Muchlis Jr. )
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majority of observers surveyed by the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) said they were doubtful of Indonesia’s ability to successfully move the capital city from Jakarta to Nusantara in East Kalimantan on time.
The 265.14-hectare Nusantara, meaning “archipelago”, will be the new home of some state institutions and at least 1.5 million civil servants starting in 2024.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed in February a new law that provides a legal framework for the relocation plan and swore in technocrat Bambang Susanto and businessman Dhony Rahajoe in March as the respective head and deputy head of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority for a five-year term. The pair will lead the new capital’s development, projected to be completed by 2045.
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) estimates that the IKN project will require at least Rp 501.56 trillion (US$35 billion), of which 19 percent will be covered by the state budget and the remaining by public-private partnerships and private investments.
The plan, which has been described as “ambitious” by some, has raised doubts among observers, as revealed by the CSIS’ latest survey. In a virtual press conference on Monday, CSIS researchers said that 58.8 percent of respondents familiar with the issue voted “not confident” on whether they thought the IKN-bound transition would run according to the government’s target of 2024. The survey polled a total of 170 observers, largely comprising academics, researchers, journalists, businessmen, lawmakers and bureaucrats, from late March to mid-April.
“Many of [the experts] seem to doubt that the government could reach its target. There are many reasons for this uncertainty, from budget matters to whether bureaucratic authorities will be convinced to leave Jakarta by 2024,” said Noory Okhtariza, a researcher at the CSIS' department of politics and social change.
Read also: New capital's State Palace, House building ready by 2024: IKN Authority
