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Govt confident environmental restoration, capital relocation can go hand-in-hand
The government will closely cooperate with the East Kalimantan administration and concession holders to accelerate environmental restoration.
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An aerial view of Sepaku district in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, on Aug. 28. (Reuters via Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has made it clear. He will relocate the country’s capital from heavily polluted and over populated Jakarta to a “far better” forest area in East Kalimantan by the end of his second term, in 2024.
The new capital itself will be a “forest city”, which is expected to be green, beautiful and sustainable. Around 70 percent of the country’s future capital will comprise green open space, while the remaining 30 percent will accommodate government and residential buildings as well as social and public facilities.
The new capital will sit on a 256,000-hectare site with the entire capital-relocation process expected to cost around Rp 466 trillion (US$33.5 billion). Half of the cost will be covered by the state budget while the other half will be met using public private partnership schemes.
The construction stage is expected to take about three to four years, while the actual moving of government institutions will occur between 2023 and 2024.
However, a large part of the targeted area appears not to be green anymore as a result of various activities, including coal mining that has left nearly 100 life-threatening pits wide open.
The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) revealed recently “there are 94 former coal mine pits spread across the new capital area”, which covers some parts of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara regencies in East Kalimantan. At least 36 people died between 2011 and 2019 from falling into the holes full of hazardous chemicals.
“[East Kalimantan] is not without problems. It has actually been a natural resource-extraction center for a long time.” Jatam coordinator Merah Johansyah said recently.
