Indonesia To Move Capital From Jakarta To Eastern Edges Of Borneo Island

New Delhi: Indonesia will move its capital from the congested and sinking megalopolis of Jakarta to the eastern edge of jungle-clad Borneo island, President Joko Widodo said on Monday.

The new capital city, which has not yet been named, will be in the middle of the vast archipelago nation and already has relatively complete infrastructure because it is near the cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda, Widodo said.

The proposed location, near the regional cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda, is an area at “minimal” risk of natural disasters, where the government already owns some 180,000 hectares (445,000 acres) of land, he added.o gestures as he speaks during a press conference at “The location is very strategic, it’s in the centre of Indonesia and close to urban areas,” Widodo said in a televised speech.

“The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the centre of governance, business, finance, trade and services,” he added.

Widodo said the relocation of the capital to a 180,000-hectare (444,780-acre) site will take up a decade and cost as much as 466 trillion rupiah (32.5 billion dollars), of which 19 percent will come from the state budget and the rest will be funded by cooperation between the government and business entities and by direct investment by state-run companies and the private sector.

He said the studies determined that the best site is between two districts, North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara, an area that has minimal risk of disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, volcanic eruptions or landslides in the seismically active nation.

Shifting from problem-plagued Jakarta would also transfer Indonesia’s power base off Java island, where about half of the sprawling archipelago’s 260 million people live.

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