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View all search resultsLand rights controversy shakes up capital relocation plan
Another politically wired figure is under scrutiny over close ties to the government, leading critics to believe that the capital relocation plan could be a plot to benefit the pro-government oligarchy.
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N
usantara, the government’s new capital city project, is facing more public scrutiny even after lawmakers passed a law formalizing the staggered move away from congested Jakarta, following allegations that a number of prominent figures stand to benefit from the relocation to East Kalimantan.
Concerns surrounding land rights and ownership over the 256,000-hectare site of the new capital have surfaced ever since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced that the new city would occupy an area straddling the regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara.
Now, critics are focusing their attention on two high-net-worth individuals: conglomerate Sukanto Tanoto and politically wired businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo.
Both are under scrutiny for their reported ownership of a portion of land on which the new capital will be built: Sukanto through his PT International Timber Corporation Indonesia (ITCI) Hutani Manunggal and Hashim through his ownership of the Arsari group.
Sukanto’s firm had already announced in 2019 that the palm oil kingpin was prepared to return his portion of the land to the government.
Now it is Hashim’s turn to be put in the spotlight – after he was singled out by a number of critics, including senior economist Faisal Basri – for his ownership of 173,000 ha of concessions near the new capital’s site.
During a webinar on Jan. 22, Faisal speculated that Hashim’s close ties to the government had turned him into one of the so-called oligarchs who stood to benefit from the capital's relocation through his water supply project.
