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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday urged businesspeople to explore the possibility of moving government offices out of Jakarta in a bid to help ease chronic traffic congestion in the capital.

Yudhoyono told members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) that short of overhauling the city’s transportation system, this was the best option.

“We cannot relocate our capital because it’s where we proclaimed our independence. It would not be appropriate,” he said.

“The best option is to relocate government offices to a centralized area similar to what Malaysia has done.”

Although Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysia’s capital city, the administration of the government is located 25 kilometers south of the city in purpose-built Putrajaya.

Yudhoyono said he estimated the project for the new centralized area would take around eight years to complete at a cost of more than Rp 80 trillion (US$8.16 billion).

“The cost can be partly financed through the state budget and from the private sector through public-private partnerships,” he said.

“We can also sell several non-performing state assets in Jakarta to help finance the project.”

Transportation experts have frequently warned of impending traffic chaos, predicting a city in gridlock by 2014 if no action to solve the problem was taken.

Jakarta Police reported a vast gap between the growth of private cars and motorcycles — estimated at 9 percent — and the 0.01 percent annual rate of road expansion. There are currently more than 2 million privately owned cars and 7 million privately owned motorcycles on Jakarta’s streets.

A study by the National Development Planning Ministry estimated the cost of fuel wasted due to the massive traffic jams amounted to at least Rp 14.7 trillion annually.

Former president Soeharto voiced plans 15 years ago of moving the administration from Jakarta to Jonggol, West Java, to help avoid the foreseeable traffic congestion.

However, following the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the idea was never aired again.

Yudhoyono said if the project could be realized, he hoped 90 percent of the building process could be carried out by local companies.

“Just think of the trickle-down effect the project could have,” he said.

Kadin deputy chairman Chris Kanter, however, expressed caution over the plan, saying it would need careful thought as it was not as simple as it seemed.

“It’ll need meticulous planning, long-term investment and accurate feasibility studies,” he said.

“But before we move on this, the government should settle [outstanding issues of] lengthy land acquisition that has caused many infrastructure projects to run aground.”

Chris expressed concern that such a plan would only benefit land speculators who would stall the projects.

The government and the House of Representatives are currently deliberating a bill on land acquisition and clearance.

The bill is expected to put a permanent end to problems of land acquisition, fueled by speculators and recalcitrant landowners.