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New capital bill leads critics to question people’s diminishing rights
Provisions in the Capital City Bill that deal with a new capital city authority have sparked fresh concerns that the new administrative region could do away with people’s democratic rights.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center), Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (right) and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono inspect the government's plan to build a road to connect the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road with the site of the new capital city, which is to occupy a 256,000-hectare area in East Kalimantan's regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara. (Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/Lukas)
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s the government waits for the House of Representatives to start deliberating the Capital City Bill, doubts over the capital relocation plan’s promise for a less Java-centered development have resurfaced, with experts believing that the economic spark need not even be tied to the project.
At the same time, provisions on the new capital's authority have also sparked concerns that the new administrative region could do away with people’s democratic rights.
House lawmakers are expected to start work on the bill when they return from recess early next month. The draft bill was submitted by senior officials on Sept. 29 after the government made it clear it would revisit the relocation plan amid easing COVID-19 pressures.
Due to the cross-cutting nature of the project, the House Steering Committee (Bamus) is to decide which commission will be appointed to lead the deliberations.
The draft bill, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post earlier this month, outlines the vision of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s Rp 466 trillion (US$32.7 billion) project, which aims to solve the long-standing problem of economic and developmental disparity by relocating the capital to East Kalimantan, in an area straddling the regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara.
Jokowi has also said the project was a symbolic move away from the overburdened current capital Jakarta.
However, doubts remain as to whether the project should even be considered the perfect vehicle to spur growth in the country’s less developed regions in the east.
