Indonesia moves capital from sinking Jakarta
Udin Slamet laughed as he recounted lifting his motorbike on to the roof almost every day to protect it from the floods of Jakarta’s high tide. His makeshift, one-storey hut, constructed on wasteland by the waterfront, was barely habitable and he struggled to eke out a living before a sea wall was constructed in 2014. “The water would come up to my neck. I had to sleep at my neighbour’s,” he said.
Jakarta, home to some 10 million people, is one of the fastest-sinking cities on earth. Experts forecast that one third of the city could be entirely submerged by 2050.
Yesterday, President Joko Widodo announced that Indonesia will move its capital from Jakarta to the eastern edge of Borneo island, as the country shifts its political heart away from the problem-ridden megalopolis.
Jakarta’s subsidence has been caused by rampant construction and groundwater extraction, prompted by poor planning that has left 40 per cent of the city without piped water.
Heri Andreas, an earth scientist at Indonesia’s Bandung Institute of Technology, calculates that in some areas the ground is already two to four metres below sea level. “The city is sinking by one to 20cm a year,” he said.
About half a mile from Mr Slamet’s house, Dodi Riyanto, 35, lives with his wife and three children in the shadow of the sea barrier on a rundown street next to derelict warehouses and a slimy pool of stagnant water.
Cracks in the wall leak once or twice
a month, causing seawater to rush through his front door, he said.
The concrete structure had offered him a small win. “Before the wall the water came up to my hip. Now it’s just up to my knee,” he said. “It’s the risk of living in this area but I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
Subsidence is just one of Jakarta’s formidable problems. Built in an earthquake zone on swamplands near the confluence of 13 rivers, the city has been dogged by poor urban planning that has created insufferable congestion and choking pollution.
The proposed location in Borneo – near the regional cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda – is at “minimal” risk of natural disasters, where government already owns 180,000 hectares of land.
“The location is very strategic – it’s in the centre of Indonesia and close to urban areas,” Mr Widodo said in a speech. “The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the centre of governance, business, finance, trade and services.”
The Indonesian side of Borneo has five provinces, known for rainforests, orang-utans and coal reserves.
According to the ministry of national development planning, the ambitious move will require new government offices and homes to be ready for 1.5million people – civil servants and their families – to start relocating by 2024, at a cost of about £27billion.
Meanwhile, environmentalists fear the move will hasten the destruction of forests that are home to orang-utans, sun bears and long-nosed monkeys, as well as increasing pollution from coal mining and palm oil industries.
“The move will have an environmental impact,” said Jasmine Puteri, Greenpeace senior forest campaigner. “Jakarta has suffered so many failures from pollution, water crisis, and flooding. We don’t want these problems in the new capital.”
Indonesia is not the first South East Asian country to move its capital. In 2005, Burma’s ruling generals moved to Naypyidaw, a town in hills 320km (200 miles) away from the colonial era capital, Yangon. In the Nineties, Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad built an administrative capital in Putrajaya, about 33km (20 miles) from Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Widodo said the government would soon submit a bill and the result of a feasibility study to parliament, so as to secure approval for the new capital, a measure that analysts expect will be passed quickly.
Rudy Prawiradinata, deputy minister for regional development, said the meticulous planning included studies of other countries who had recently moved capitals – such as Brazil’s switch from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in 1960.
“The economic impact was good in Brazil so I think this is a very good example for us,” he said, adding that “environmental issues” would be at the heart of the new city’s design.
He stressed that the relocation was aimed more at a fairer distribution of development across the country and should not be viewed as a one-stop solution to Jakarta’s problems. And Jakarta would remain a financial centre of Indonesia, similar to New York’s relationship with Washington DC.
Mr Prawiradinata argued that Jakarta’s own chronic problems would be addressed separately. But some experts fear it may end up neglected.
“By moving the capital, you’re not going to solve the problems of Jakarta,” said Elisa Sutanudjaja, executive director at the Rujak Center for Urban Studies. “The ones really excited about moving the capital are the developers.”
Meanwhile, Mr Slamet remains optimistic about the future. The sea wall left his property dry enough to be able to open a small snack shop and business is booming. “I don’t know, I don’t care,” he said when asked if he worries about Jakarta sinking. “It’s all in the hands of the Almighty.”
‘Before, the water came up to my hip. Now it’s up to my knee. It’s the risk of living here but I don’t have anywhere else to go’