Marguerite Afra Sapiie The Jakarta Post 29 Apr 19;
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has decided to push ahead with a plan to move the capital from Jakarta by establishing a new center of government outside Java, citing the need to ensure more equitable development and address overpopulation in the country’s most populous island.
The National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) presented its initial study on the relocation plan during a Cabinet meeting led by Jokowi on Monday, where the top executives discussed alternatives to establish a new political and government hub amid environmental concerns and overcrowding in Jakarta.
“The President has decided in the meeting to move the capital outside Java,” Bappenas head Bambang Brodjonegoro said in a press conference after the meeting on Monday.
Bappenas presented three alternatives.
The first was to keep Jakarta as the capital but establish a government district centered around the Presidential Palace and the National Monument to improve efficiency, while the second option was to establish a new capital located 50 to 70 kilometers outside Jakarta.
However, Bambang said, neither of those two options would address the overpopulation in Java, a home to 57 percent of the roughly 260 million people of Indonesia, and they would not support the government’s aim to shift the nation from its Java-centric development to a more inclusive development agenda for the whole archipelago.
Jokowi, therefore, went with the third option, namely for the capital status to be conferred on a city outside Java, preferably located in the center of Indonesia, in order to represent fairness and to speed up development throughout in eastern Indonesia.
“We want to have a capital that represents the nation’s identity and improves the efficiency of the central government and establish a smart, green and beautiful city,” Bambang said. “The capital relocation must serve the strategic vision of our long-term development agenda.”
While the location of the new capital has yet to be decided, the Jokowi administration aims to form a center of government similar to Washington, DC, in a new city, leaving Jakarta as the business, trade and financial hub similar to New York in the United States.
Bambang said the new capital would house all three branches of Indonesia’s government, namely the executive, legislative and judiciary, as well as the headquarters of the National Police and the Indonesian Military, foreign embassies and international organizations. Meanwhile, financial sector institutions, such as Bank Indonesia, the Financial Services Authority (OJK) and the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), would remain in Jakarta. (swd)
Government to move capital city out of Java
Antara 29 Apr 19;
Jakarta (ANTARA) - After serious consideration, the Indonesian government has chosen to move the capital city out of Java.
"In a limited meeting, the president has decided to move the capital city out of Java," Minister of the National Planning and Development/Head of the National Development Planning Agency Bambang Brodjonegoro said after the limited meeting on the Follow-Up Plan for the Transfer of Capital at the Presidential Office here on Monday.
According to Bambang, the technical aspects, city design and "master plan" for the construction of a new capital city would be discussed at the next meeting.
Bambang explained three options with regard to the agency's study regarding the transfer of the capital city. The first option is to allow the capital to remain in the vicinity of the presidential palace and the Jakarta National Monument with government offices located in the area.
While the second option is to move the location of the capital city to an area close to Jakarta (the current capital city) around Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi (Bodetabek), the third choice is to move the government capital out of Java.
"If we move to an area in Java, especially only around Jakarta, it does not reduce the burden of Java and does not make the development more Indonesian-centric, but rather, strengthens the island of Java," said Bambang.
In addition, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono also said that the government would need 40 thousand hectares of land if it chooses to move the capital city outside Java to accommodate all the civil servants.
"If the civil servants move partially, around 870 thousand residents, then (the government) would need up to 30,000 hectares of land," Basuki said.
He explained that the area with minimal disaster risk is on the island of Kalimantan.
Previously, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also proposed the Mamuju area in West Sulawesi as one of the choices in the capital city.
However, Basuki said the government has yet to decide on a region for the capital city and explained that the setting up of government offices such as ministry offices and institutions, residential settlements, and infrastructure would take around four to five years.
Reporter: Bambang Purwanto
Editor: Sri Haryati
