It will take at least 10 years to completely move the capital of Indonesia outside Java, as preferred by President Joko Widodo.
t will be years before Indonesia sees its capital being moved from Jakarta as the government still faces a lengthy process of deliberation over the details of the relocation with the House of Representatives.
A decades-old discourse to relocate the country’s capital was recently reignited after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo decided to establish a new administrative hub outside Java, citing reasons of overpopulation, traffic congestion and environment.
The government, however, would need to sit together with lawmakers to discuss the details of the plan, including the new location of the capital city as well as the budget, before it could be finalized, presidential spokesman Johan Budi said.
“There is still a lengthy process ahead before the relocation can take place, including the deliberation at the House as well as the process of moving itself,” Johan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) has estimated that the cost of the development for the new capital city, which included construction of new buildings, housing and infrastructure, would be around Rp 323 trillion (US$22.6 billion) to Rp 446 trillion.
The new capital would be built on a vast tract of land, around 30,000 to 40,000 hectares in area, and thus the relocation process would take a long time because the government needed to build new buildings from scratch, Johan said.
Jokowi chose the third of three alternatives offered by Bappenas on the capital relocation. The first and second options were to keep Jakarta as the capital but establish a centered government district and to establish a new capital located 50 to 70 kilometers outside Jakarta.
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