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'It's final,' minister says of capital relocation
National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said in a recent exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post that the plan to move the capital was considered “final”, hinting that the government would not backtrack from it.
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A worker removes stones from a destroyed sidewalk in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on Monday. The Cikini sidewalk revitalization project, for which the city has allocated Rp 75 billion (US$5.2 million) from its budget, is expected to be completed in December this year. (The Jakarta Post/Wendra Ajistyatama)
T
he government is seriously considering a plan to move the capital city off Java, saying it would work to realize it within the next five years, a senior minister said.
National Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said in a recent exclusive interview with The Jakarta Post that the plan to move the capital was considered “final”, hinting that the government would not backtrack from it.
Bambang said legislation would act as a legal basis to facilitate the relocation, while also proposing the establishment of a government agency to oversee the development of the new capital city.
“It is our preliminary suggestion [to form] an authority for the development and management [of the new capital]. We hope that the body would not only oversee the construction but also the initial operational phase of the new capital,” said Bambang in Jakarta, adding that more details about the body would be explained in the legislation on the capital’s relocation.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo revived the decades-old idea to move the capital off Java in a limited Cabinet meeting in late April following a preliminary study conducted by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) — a government agency headed by Bambang.
During the meeting, Bappenas presented three alternative scenarios: to maintain Jakarta as the capital city and consolidate government offices in the Medan Merdeka area of Central Jakarta, to move the capital outside of Jakarta to one of the nearby cities, or to move the capital off Java.
“Based on our recommendation, as well as the President’s decision, it was decided that we would go off Java and later we focused more on Kalimantan,” said Bambang.
