Jakarta is congested, polluted, prone to earthquakes and rapidly sinking into the Java Sea. Now the government is in the process of leaving, moving Indonesia’s capital to the island of Borneo.
Jakarta is congested, polluted, prone to earthquakes and rapidly sinking into the Java Sea. Now the government is in the process of leaving, moving Indonesia’s capital to the island of Borneo.
Indonesian officials say the new metropolis will be a sustainable forest city» that puts the environment at the heart of the development and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2045.
But environmentalists warn that the capital will cause massive deforestation, threaten the habitat of endangered species such as orangutans and imperil the homes of Indigenous communities.
While access to the new capital’s site is usually limited, The Associated Press was allowed to tour parts of the site to view construction progress in early March.
Here’s a look at why the capital is moving, the government’s plans and why activists are worried about how it will impact the environment, endangered species and Indigenous communities located near the project site.
WHY IS INDONESIA MOVING ITS CAPITAL?
Jakarta is home to about 10 million people and three times that number in the greater metropolitan area. It has been described as the world’s most rapidly sinking city, and at the current rate, it is estimated that one-third of the city could be submerged by 2050.
