Jakarta is congested, polluted, prone to earthquakes and rapidly sinking into the Java Sea. Now the government is planning to leave, moving the country’s capital to the island of Borneo.
A young boy plays as high rise buildings at the main business district are seen in the background, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Indonesian parliament last week passed the state capital bill into law, giving green light to President Joko Widodo to start a $34 billion construction project this year to move the country's capital from the traffic-clogged, polluted and rapidly sinking Jakarta on the main island of Java to jungle-clad Borneo island amid public skepticism.
Skeptics worry, however, about the environmental impact of plunking a sprawling 256,000-hectare city down in Borneo’s East Kalimantan province, which is home to orangutans, leopards and a wide array of other wildlife, as well as committing $34 billion to the ambitious project amid a global pandemic.
A worker transporting gas canisters pushes his cart against the traffic flow in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Indonesian parliament last week passed the state capital bill into law, giving green light to President Joko Widodo to start a $34 billion construction project this year to move the country's capital from the traffic-clogged, polluted and rapidly sinking Jakarta on the main island of Java to jungle-clad Borneo island amid public skepticism.
Indonesia is an archipelago nation of more than 17,000 islands, but currently 54% of the country’s more than 270 million people live on Java, the country’s most densely populated island and where Jakarta is located. In constructing a purpose-built capital, Indonesia will be taking a path that others have in the past, including Pakistan, Brazil and Myanmar.