Indonesian President announces location of new capital

Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced at 1 p.m. today on his YouTube channel that the new capital will be located in both North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara in East Kalimantan province, one of three locations the previous government considered, and a two-hour flight from Jakarta.

The site is located in a government-owned forest area, so land acquisition is not difficult. It is also an area with low risk of earthquakes, floods, and volcanic eruptions.

The Indonesian president also said he had sent a letter to the Indonesian lower house of parliament to inform them of the decision and that the government would draft a bill to relocate the capital to pass through parliament as soon as possible.

According to Mr. Widodo, the cost of moving the capital is 466 trillion rupiah (nearly 33 billion USD). The state will fund 19%, the rest will come from public-private partnerships (a combination of the state and private enterprises) and private investment.

The announcement by Indonesia’s president today ends months of speculation about the location of the country’s new capital. The government plans to start construction on the new capital in 2021 and begin relocating some offices in 2024.

"We don't want to do this in a hurry, but we will do it as quickly as possible," Mr. Widodo said.

The capital Jakarta is located on the island of Java, which covers an area of ​​about 128,000 square kilometers but is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian president on August 16 asked parliament to approve a plan to move the capital from Jakarta to the island of Borneo because the number of people concentrated in the cities and satellite towns around the city is three times larger than the population in the city, causing frequent and serious traffic congestion.

Jakarta is also one of the fastest-sinking cities in the world. Researchers say much of the megacity could be submerged by 2050. Half of Jakarta is already below sea level.

Borneo has an area of ​​743,300 km2, making it the third largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. The three countries with territory on Borneo are Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, of which Indonesia accounts for 73% of the area.