Los Angeles Times - 27.08.2019

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SINGAPORE — Indone-

sia was in search of a new city

to replace its overcrowded

and smoggy capital.

The site had to be cen-

trally located and offer am-

ple land to build a city from

scratch — requirements

similar to those when Ni-

geria, Brazil and even the

United States selected their

current capitals.

The Southeast Asian na-

tion sprawled along the Pa-

cific “Ring of Fire” also

needed a place safe from

earthquakes, volcanoes and

tsunamis — a uniquely Indo-

nesian problem that elimi-

nated most parts of the

country from contention.

One place, however, met

those prerequisites. After

months of speculation, In-

donesian President Joko

Widodo revealed Monday

that East Kalimantan, a re-

source-rich province of trop-

ical forest, was selected to

replace the current capital,

Jakarta.

If parliament approves,

the world’s fourth most

populous country could join

a small club of nations since

the 1900s to relocate their

capital, a club that includes

India, Australia and Myan-

mar.

Monday’s announce-

ment brings Indonesia

closer than ever to realizing

a relocation plan that had

been considered for decades

by past leaders, including

Sukarno and Suharto.

Here’s what you need to

know about the current pro-

posed relocation:

Problems with Jakarta

A trading post for Dutch

colonialists starting in the

1600s, Jakarta is now home

to 10 million residents — 30

million if you include the

suburbs. It’s a heaving

environmental mess with

some of the worst air

pollution and traffic

congestion in the world.

More troubling, parts of

the metropolis are sinking

more than 7 inches each

year because of the de-

pletion of underground

water wells. The city is large-

ly below sea level and the

government is racing to

build walls to hold back the

ocean. Flooding is common

during the rainy months,

adding to the misery of an

overcrowded city on pace to

become the world’s largest

by 2030.

Economic imbalance

Indonesia is a sprawling

nation whose 270 million

inhabitants are spread

across three time zones

along the equator on more

than 17,000 islands, includ-

ing tourist hot spots such as

Bali. The country’s eastern

and western ends are sepa-

rated by more than 2,

miles, which is about the

distance between Los Ange-

les and New York.

That vastness has left

many parts of Indonesia

neglected, highlighted by

the fact that more than 80%

of the country’s economic

output comes from the main

western islands of Java,

where Jakarta is located,

and Sumatra. Recent riot-

ing in West Papua over

racism underscores the

underrepresentation that

afflicts some provinces.

Shifting the capital to a

more central location is

aimed at alleviating a bit of

that disparity and, perhaps,

burnishing Widodo’s legacy

as he prepares to begin his

second and final presi-

dential term in October.

“The economic gap

between Java and outside

Java continues to increase,”

Widodo, known as Jokowi,

said in his address, which

was broadcast on YouTube.

Why East Kalimantan?

Kalimantan is the name

of Indonesia’s portion of

Borneo, an island slightly

larger than Texas shared

with Malaysia and Brunei

that’s located near the

center of Indonesia. East

Kalimantan, 1,300 miles

removed from Jakarta, is

the most developed of Kali-

mantan’s five provinces. It

features two of the region’s

largest cities — Balikpapan

and Samarinda — and

boasts modern infrastruc-

ture such as a pair of inter-

national airports, toll roads

and seaports.

Another decisive advan-

tage of East Kalimantan is

its relative safety from natu-

ral disasters because it is

buffered by the islands of

Java to the south and Sula-

wesi to the east and rarely

experiences earthquakes of

any significance, particu-

larly by Indonesian stand-

ards. The only volcano

thought to be active on

Borneo is on the Malaysian

side of the border.

When is the move?

The new capital still

needs approval from parlia-

ment, where Jokowi’s sup-

porters hold a majority. The

relocation and building of

the city could cost at least

$33 billion and spark a clam-

or for state contracts.

The plan is for construc-

tion to begin in 2021 and

government employees to

start moving into their new

offices by 2024 — though

experts are skeptical a

project of this magnitude

will finish on time. The new

city would start on about

700 square miles of govern-

ment-owned land near

Balikpapan and

Samarinda.

Don’t count Jakarta out

The megacity will remain

Indonesia’s financial center

— meaning local politics will

continue to serve as a na-

tional springboard for the

foreseeable future. Jokowi

was governor of Jakarta

from 2012-14, helping launch

his political profile.

“It’s too early to predict

how the proposed new

capital will shift the domes-

tic political dynamics be-

cause we don’t know how

long it will take to complete

this highly ambitious proj-

ect,” said Ben Bland, direc-

tor of the Southeast Asia

project at the Sydney, Aus-

tralia-based think tank

Lowy Institute.

“But the governorship of

Jakarta is likely to remain

an important political stage

because the city will still be

Indonesia’s business capital

and, far and away, largest

city.”

BACK STORY

Indonesia’s capital move

and the reasons behind it

Overcrowding and less than ideal location work against Jakarta’s favor

By David Pierson

JAKARTA, Indonesia’s capital, is now home to 10 million people, and its residents

grapple with some of the worst air pollution and traffic congestion in the world.

Dita Alangkara Associated Press

The Southeast

Asian nation

sprawled along

the Pacific ‘Ring

of Fire’ also

needed a place

safe from

earthquakes,

volcanoes and

tsunamis — a

uniquely

Indonesian

problem.

A researcher at the Avantea Laboratory in Cremona, Italy, works on inseminating eggs from the last two

northern white rhino cows with frozen sperm from two rhino bulls, now deceased, of the same species.

Eggs removed last week in Kenya from rhinos Najin and Fatu were fertilized in the lab Sunday. Avantea

said Monday that it will be about 10 days before it is known whether the eggs have become embryos that

would be transferred to a surrogate mother. The last male northern white rhino, Sudan, died in 2018.

1,000 WORDS: CREMONA, Italy

Antonio CalanniAssociated Press

TRYING TO SAVE RHINO SPECIES