Indonesia selects a new capital city, sanctioning a move away from Jakarta

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Indonesia's future capital, Nusantara, has been designated as parliament accept the move from Jakarta to Kalimantan, a jungle-covered region on Borneo's east coast.

The new name is derived from the Indonesian word "archipelago."

 

Concerns over the long-term viability of Jakarta's congested and quickly sinking political core spurred the country's House of Representatives to pass a bill on Tuesday to relocate the country's capital.

 

"The capital city's migration to Kalimantan is based on a number of factors, including regional benefits and welfare.
With the goal of establishing a new economic centre of gravity in the archipelago's heart, "According to Indonesia Parliament TV, Suharso Monoarfa, the country's Minister of National Development Planning, said.

 

President Joko Widodo announced the relocation of the capital in 2019, citing concerns about Jakarta's environmental and economic viability.

Jakarta is one of the world's fastest sinking cities, according to the World Economic Forum, since it is built on swampy terrain near the sea, leaving it especially vulnerable to flooding.
Due to over-extraction of groundwater, the historic capital has been rapidly sinking into the Java Sea.

 

It's also one of the world's most densely populated cities.
According to the United Nations, it is home to more than 10 million people, with an estimated 30 million in the broader metropolitan region.

According to the chairman of Indonesia's House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, the measure to relocate the capital was approved by eight fractions on Tuesday, with only one fraction voting against it.
The Indonesian Parliament is divided into nine divisions, or groups of political parties.

 

Legislators have emphasised the significance of carefully considering the environmental impact of the new development.
The overall land area for the new capital city would be roughly 256,143 hectares (around 2,561 square kilometres), according to data from the National Planning and Development Agency, with almost all of it converted from forest land.

The majority of Borneo, the world's third-largest island, is owned by Indonesia, with Malaysia and Brunei each owning portions of the island's northern section.