Indonesian deputies approve the construction of a new capital “Nusantara”

The Indonesian parliament voted on Tuesday a law that approves the transfer of its current capital, Jakarta, located on the island of Java, Borneo, an island that is home to one of the largest tropical forests in the world.

The new political capital of the Southeast Asian archipelago, named “Nusantara”, will be built some 2,000 kilometers from Jakarta, which will continue to be the economic capital.

The lower house of the Indonesian parliament approved the legislative framework for the project, which had been announced by President Joko Widodo in 2019.

Jakarta, an impressive conurbation of more than 30 million inhabitants, suffers from a lack of infrastructure and is paralyzed by giant traffic jams and very high pollution. In addition, its coastal area sinks below sea level which causes frequent flooding.

The new capital will occupy more than 56,000 hectares in the province of East Kalimantan, in Borneo, an island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

In total, and with a view to an expansion of the project, some 256,000 hectares have been set aside.

The first models of the new capital show an intelligent city project, built among trees, but there is no more concrete idea for now about its appearance.

The construction will have several stages until 2045.

President Joko Widodo said on Monday that in the new capital there will be “zero polluting emissions” and “the inhabitants will be close to everything, they will be able to get around by bicycle or on foot.”

“Nusantara”, which means “archipelago” in Indonesian, was chosen from a list of 80 possible names.

The future capital will be governed by the Government Authority for the Capital, a new entity headed by a person appointed by the president for a term of five years, according to the law adopted by parliament.

A future presidential decree will detail the budget dedicated to this project, previously estimated at 33,000 million dollars.

In Asia, Malaysia moved its administrative capital to Putrajaya in 2003 and Burma established its capital in Naypyidaw in 2006.