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Indonesia’s new capital plan: How soon is now?
The Jokowi administration said the relocation would begin in 2023, but the political process might delay the plan.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (third left), along with other officials, looks at a map as he visits Bukit Soeharto in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, on May 7. Bukit Soeharto, was one of several areas that had been nominated for the site of a new capital city. (Courtesy of Presidential Press Bureau/-)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to build a new capital in East Kalimantan has gained both jeers and cheers from citizens and the international community.
As the largest economy in Southeast Asia, the plan to move the center of government from Jakarta, a port city on Java, to a 180,000-hectare plot of land in the eastern part of Borneo, was prompted by a failing existing capital that has been dragged down by air pollution, traffic woes and land subsidence.
It has also sent a strong message that Indonesia, for the first time since it gained independence, is committed to development outside of Java, the most developed and populous island in the country.
But to realize the plan, the Jokowi administration is faced by questions and doubts, because the planned location, which straddles North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara regencies, sits in protected forest areas where infrastructure is scarce. How will this area, which is even yet to be named as a city or regency, control such a sizeable economy as Indonesia along with its large and diverse population?
Read also: From Kuala Cebong to Penakut: Netizens suggest names for new capital
While the government is rallying the private sector to cover the relocation budget, it has yet to prepare a master plan, environmental analysis or supporting laws to enable the relocation.
The Home Ministry said the relocation plan would require legislation and amendment of at least nine laws, including revising Law No. 29/2007 to change Jakarta's special status; a new law on capital spatial planning as well as a revision to the Disaster Management Law and the National Defense Law to define the new location as a first-ring area that will be a priority during adverse events.
