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Indonesia approves Jakarta move, names new capital

Indonesia has named its new capital: Nusantara. Now, lawmakers approve the move from Jakarta to Kalimantan – a jungle-covered region on the eastern island of Borneo.

The new name means “archipelago” in the Indonesian language. Concerns about the sustainability of Jakarta’s congested and rapidly sinking political center have led to the need for a new capital, and the country’s House of Representatives officially passed a bill on Tuesday on the relocation.

“The move from the capital to Kalimantan is based on several considerations, regional advantages and well-being. With the vision of the birth of a new economic center of gravity in the middle of the archipelago,” said Suharso Monoarfa, Minister of National Development Planning, according to Indonesian Parliament TV.

President Joko Widodo first announced that the capital would be relocated in 2019, citing concerns about Jakarta’s environmental and economic sustainability.

Jakarta sits on swampy terrain near the sea – making it especially prone to flooding – and is one of the sinking cities on Earth, according to the World Economic Forum. The former capital is falling into the Java Sea at an alarming rate due to over-extraction of groundwater.

It is also one of the most overpopulated urban regions in the world. It is home to over 10 million people, with around 30 million in the metropolitan area, according to the United Nations.

On Tuesday, the capital relocation project was approved by eight factions and only one faction rejected it, according to the president of the Indonesian Chamber of Deputies, Puan Maharani. Indonesia’s Parliament comprises nine groups of political parties known as factions.

According to data from the National Agency for Planning and Development, the total area of ​​the new capital will be around 2,561 square kilometers, almost all converted from forest area.

Sri Mulyani, Indonesia’s finance minister, told a news conference on Tuesday that there will be five stages of development in the new capital.

The first stage is expected to start in 2022 and last until 2024, with development expected to last until 2045, Monoarfa said.

Previous estimates said the ambitious project would likely cost around 466 trillion rupees ($32 billion), CNN Indonesia reported.

This content was originally created in English.

original version

Reference: CNN Brasil

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