The Indonesian parliament has given the green light to move the capital from Jakarta to a remote location on the island of Borneo, 2,000 km away, which will be called “Nusantara”.
It was the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo who proposed, two years ago, the idea of moving the capital from the metropolis of 30 million inhabitants to cope with rising sea levels and severe housing pressure on the densely populated island. of Java.
Jakarta, home to more than 30 million people in its large metropolitan area, has long been plagued by severe infrastructure problems and flooding exacerbated by climate change, with experts predicting that up to a third of the city could be underwater by the 2050.
THE NEW CAPITAL - The new capital will cover approximately 56,180 hectares in the province of East Kalimantan, in the Indonesian part of Borneo, which the country shares with Malaysia and Brunei. In all, 256,142 hectares were allocated to the project, with the additional land earmarked for potential future expansion.
The goal is to create an "intelligent" city that respects the environment, but not everyone shares the utopian plan, launched in 2020 and hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indonesia is not the first country in the region to relocate its capital due to overpopulation. Malaysia moved the center of power to Putrajaya from Kuala Lumpur in 2003, while Burma moved its capital to Naypyidaw from Rangoon in 2006.
(Unioneonline / vl)
