Capital relocation plan divides Indonesians
‘Smart’ forest city home to orang-utans may take the place of sinking, congested and polluted Jakarta
SIBUKDIN’S ancestors have lived in Sepaku village in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province for thousands of years, but his family is about to experience one of its most fundamental lifestyle shifts in generations.
In a few years, the leader of the indigenous Paser tribe will see his home, Penajam Paser Utara regency, transformed into one of two sites earmarked for the nation’s new capital, Nusantara.
The name, meaning “archipelago”, has already sparked criticism for evoking a 13th to 15th century Java-based empire that conquered all of Indonesia, reflecting the controversy over the relocation of the capital itself.
Indonesia, a Southeast Asian democracy of more than 270 million, is preparing to move its political heart from Jakarta, its rapidly sinking and congested capital, to the more sparsely inhabited East Kalimantan on Borneo Island as early as 2024. Jakarta would remain its commercial hub.
The plan has divided the country. It has been touted as an opportunity to spread wealth outside of the most populous island of Java, where Jakarta and some 58 per cent of the country’s economic activities are located. But its estimated $33 billion (£26 billion) cost is outrageous to many Indonesians who are still reeling from the economic impact of Covid. In March, the Softbank Group, a major investor, dealt another economic blow after it withdrew from the project without explanation.
This compounded fears over the environmental impact of a new city that will take over some 139,000 acres of the eastern part of Borneo, which the country shares with Malaysia and Brunei.
Environmentalists fear the proposed “smart city in the forest”, and an expected influx of 1.5 million residents, could damage ecosystems in a region known for its lush rainforests and endangered orang-utan population.
Surrounded by trees and mountains, Sibukdin’s district is near a creek. The 59-year-old said his tribe used to regularly hunt deer in the locality but this had become impossible because of environmental degradation caused by a nearby logging company’s operations.
He feared the new capital could make the situation even worse.
“Our concern is the polluted waste that will come from the new capital site because it is upstream on the river,” said Sibukdin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. Other indigenous communities share his concerns.
Helena Lin Legi, the head of the Dayak tribal council in Penajam Paser Utara, said the tribe in principle supported the move as you “cannot reject modernity”, but she hoped the government would consult closely with local people, particularly when it came to land ownership and cultivation.
“We hope the government prioritises programmes to teach us to become modern farmers and still independently grow our own food,” said the 43-yearold. Land rights had to be handled with care, she added.
“Agrarian conflicts are currently quite high here,” she said. “Please pay attention to this matter immediately or it has the potential for social conflict.”
Buyung Marajo, an activist at Pokja 30, a charity based in East Kalimantan’s capital, Samarinda that campaigns for improved public services, said the decision “did not involve the community as a whole”.
“We see that the community has never been given space to provide input, there is nothing for the community to be able to jointly determine the future related to this new capital,” said the 42-year-old. “We think there should be many community groups that should be involved; there are fishermen, farmers and the indigenous people themselves,” he added.
But Indonesia is not the first country in Southeast Asia to face the hurdles of moving its overpopulated capital. Both Malaysia and Myanmar moved their administrative centres in the 2000s.
Joko Widodo, the Indonesian president, and his government, remain buoyant about the project. In March, he posted on Instagram to update the country on its progress – posing for photographs in a forest at the site of the new city, where he had camped for the night. “Morning, how does it feel to stay overnight at the location of Nusantara? The air was cool and the weather was clear last night,” he said. Mr Widodo, known as Jokowi, and governors from across the country inaugurated the site with a ceremony in which they brought soil and water from their respective regions and mixed them together to symbolise the country’s unity.
The construction of the presidential palace, parliament and other government buildings is set to begin in the second half of 2022, but the entire city is scheduled for completion in 2045.
The government has been keen to promote its economic benefits.
Suharso Monoarfa, the national development planning minister, has described its location in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago as “very strategic,” with the advantage of the “minimal risk” of natural disasters like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that frequently strike the country.
He said the move would mean a “more inclusive and equitable economic growth” throughout eastern Indonesia. Local business communities have also offered fervent support.
“The capital has not even been moved yet, but investors are already enthusiastic about it,” said Yaser Arafat, 38, the head of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry branch in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
Some government workers, who will face the upheaval of relocating, have also welcomed the move as a way to improve some of Jakarta’s major structural problems of pollution, traffic congestion and subsidence. “I hope with the relocation of the capital city, Jakarta will be more organised because it is getting more chaotic,” said Willa Rivani, 27, an employee at a government ministry for five years.
She expects to move to East Kalimantan by 2027 but not all of her colleagues were happy about it. “Some plan to start a business or change jobs as long as they stay in Jakarta,” she said.
Military and police officers have also expressed reluctance. But Mr Widodo may face the largest amount of resistance over the budget, with experts warning that the pandemic may wipe out the progress of the last decade in reducing poverty in Indonesia.
“We are still in the middle of the pandemic, we have not yet risen above adversity,” said Pokja 30 NGO’S Marajo.
“Does this government have no compassion for this situation? It prioritises the new capital instead and uses the budget for it. It should have been for Indonesia’s economic recovery.”