Today, the Indonesian parliament has prepared a bill to move the capital from Jakarta to a mountainous area on the island of Borneo, according to DPA. Legislators’ decisions pave the way for the construction of a new city.
The law was approved by most political parties, with only a small Justice and Prosperity party opposed.
National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa announced yesterday that the new capital will be built in the province of East Kalimantan and will be called Nusantara. It is the old name of the Malay Archipelago, which includes Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and the southern Philippines.
In 2019, Indonesian President Joko Vidodo announced plans to build a completely new capital in the jungles of Borneo, equidistant from the cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda. He said Jakarta was no longer a viable administrative center due to floods, constant traffic jams and poor air quality.
The cost of the move is estimated at more than $ 32 billion. If all goes according to plan, the first officials will be able to move to their new offices no earlier than 2024, when Joko’s second and last term ends.
Twenty percent of Jakarta’s territory is below sea level, and the Bandung Institute of Technology estimates that this percentage will double by 2050. The gradual decline of the city is partly due to the uncontrolled drying of groundwater and the associated decline in groundwater levels.
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