Future capital with old problems

The Indonesian capital Jakarta is overloaded. The planned new capital Nusantara is intended to offer a green alternative. But many things are not going as planned.

The government in Indonesia celebrated the independence day of the Southeast Asian country in the future capital of Nusantara on the island of Borneo. Of the 8,000 guests originally invited, a large number were disinvited in the past few days.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo justified the decision by saying that it was not yet possible to provide so many people with food, and there was a lack of accommodation and transport options. Nothing should be rushed. The president already spent the night in his new palace a few days ago. It is shaped like a giant eagle with its wings spread.

On Monday, the ministers met for their first cabinet meeting in the new capital. A sign of optimism. Because many things are not going as planned. The heads of the project recently resigned, the move of the first officials to their new ministries is delayed, and there are no international investors.

A task for decades

“I am here to strengthen the spirit of the project,” President Joko Widodo recently said. “This is a task for ten, 15 or 20 years. Not for one, two or three years.”

The new capital is due to be completed in 2045. Around two million people will then live in Nusantara, a city in the middle of the jungle on the island of Borneo. It is to be a city of the future – with short distances, green and sustainable. Nusantara means archipelago – a fitting name for a country with around 17,000 islands.

Smog and traffic jams in Jakarta

The reason for the new building, which costs around 30 billion euros, is the overloading of the old capital Jakarta. The metropolis, which has a population of millions, is sinking by several centimeters every year and is suffering from traffic jams and smog. The new building is therefore a top priority for the Indonesian government.

Just a few kilometers away from the new palace, Jakiyah is watching the inauguration on television. She has never seen the new capital with her own eyes. She would have liked to have been there, but almost no one from the local population had an invitation to the opening ceremony.

Residents fear relocation

Her neighborhood used to be quiet. Since construction began two years ago, trucks and excavators have rattled past her front door every day. Her patio is covered in gray dust. “I often have to cough and have trouble breathing because of the dust, so I spray water every day.”

Her husband's family belongs to the Balik ethnic group and has lived here in East Kalimantan for decades. Now the family is worried that they might lose their land and have to move.

Problems for animals due to new highway

The government has widened the river for the port and is currently building a highway from the airport to the new capital. Environmentalists criticize the road for cutting across the green corridor for local wildlife.

Borneo is home to endangered orangutans, as well as proboscis monkeys and gibbons. They are the silent victims of the new capital city, complains environmentalist Fathur Roziqin Fen, while a crocodile swims leisurely past in the river behind him.

Ambitious project with an uncertain future

The expressway is the top priority for the Indonesian government. It still takes more than two hours to drive from the airport to the new capital – over winding, bumpy roads. The expressway is intended to shorten the journey time to half an hour.

The success of Nusantara also depends on whether the future government pushes the mega-project as hard as the current President Widodo. His successor, Prabowo Subianto, will take over the reins of government in October. He has repeatedly asserted that he will continue to build the new capital with just as much enthusiasm as his predecessor.