Inside Indonesia's Move To New Capital Nusantara: Will Its People Be Ready? | Insight | Full Episode

[Music] foreign [Music] 's most ambitious project moving Indonesia's Capital to a remote location 1 200 kilometers from Jakarta the idea of starting a city from scratch is always very interesting for many planners it's like a Utopia the eye of the global audience will be on us but with environmental and social concerns plaguing Construction and just one year to new santara's inauguration will Indonesia's New Capital be ready thank you foreign Regency East kalamantan Province a project worth more than 30 billion US dollars is underway here is where Indonesia's New Capital will be located a city more than three times the size of Singapore Indonesians call it IBU Kota nagara or ikn meaning capital city its name is new santara Target of completion for new Centerra 2045 when Indonesia celebrates its Centenary as an independent nation but the first phase of the project is expected to be finished next year is the man in charge of making it happen as you can see here on the far right there where you can see the crane yeah that is the presidential Palace and this one uh the one that you can see like a strip here if you imagine like the Washington mall right so it's going to be a mall right there where we have several iconic sort of like places like what we call the bukit Bandera and then there is some area of the titik naul and others and it's a strip like that and basically it's a green green strip and it will be a sort of like the main sort of like axis of this new santara capital where many of the Strategic building will be located in March 2022 president Jokowi broke a crown at nusantara and exactly one year from today on August 17 2024 president Joko Widodo will preside over the 79th anniversary of Indonesia's proclamation of independence from the Netherlands and he wants to do it here in New santara by then the presidential Palace and several government Ministries are expected to be completed and this is part of that for example here is the uh istana the palace and then there's a couple of government building here right so there are also some demand to uh for example to develop some education town to develop some uh Services Center or perhaps a renewable area the solar farm for example the new capital is located in East kalamantan one of the five provinces which make up kalamantan on the Indonesian side of Borneo Island is home to 16 million people and 37 million hectares of tropical forest at the moment getting to nusantara is not that straightforward from Jakarta it's a two-hour flight to balik Papa east talamantan's oil and Commercial Center then another two-hour drive past Villages forests and palm oil plantations but there is a reason this location is chosen this is in the middle of you you open the map of the Indonesia right so that's why this site is chosen right and uh because of that I think that this is uh ideal places also to Showcase that we can really build something that in harmony again between the people nature and culture and also be part of the global campaign yeah with the clock ticking the pressure is on bambang and his team to have new center already for its Inauguration in exactly one year's time the question on people's minds will new Centerra be ready we do hope that by 17th of August 2024 we are going to have some sort of like an ecosystem that consisting of their palace you can see the palace right there and then a couple of ministerial offices and not only that one not only offices for the government but also what we call the amenities or the facilities for those who would like to move here as the Pioneer so that consisting of for example education facilities Hospital even mall for example and it's not big but it's uh enough for ecosystem to show that yes this is the first step of the uh The Next Step that we are going to undertake currently 36 houses for government ministers are beginning to take shape civil servants are expected to be the first of nusantara's residents we are on the track in terms of development progress as you can see each of the physical constructions has their own progress for example on the dam it has been above 90 percent so all in all we are still on the track to achieve the first Target on 2034 especially on the 17th of August but why does Indonesia need a brand new capital the prospective city is meant to alleviate the pressures on the current capital Jakarta is uh [Music] foreign but the construction of lucentara is not without controversy but the site is not a bare piece of land they are villagers scattered in the area Pandi his wife and four children live in a sipaku village named after a nearby River they were alarmed when boundary markers appeared one day is foreign [Music] the small yellow piece of cloth attached to the markers have development boundary written on them 800 meters away the sapaku dam is being built the resulting Reservoir will provide water to new Centerra but Pandi thinks the 200 villagers here will be displaced by the dam age foreign building a city from scratch will be an expensive Endeavor over 30 billion US Dollars though this could be a fraction of the final price tag the initial figures that we got from the national development planning agency is about 33 billion US Dollars yeah but to be honest with you I feel that this is still very small and we are going to go beyond that one of course and we are going to use more on the cooperation or public private partnership or private Finance initiative because we want also the private sector be part of this development process part of this budget is meant for land acquisition but Pandi who owns a hectare Farmland says there have been no discussions about compensation so far talk um foreign says the authorities are aware of the issues raised by The Villages from compensation to lack of information he has promised to address them for those who are affected we also would like them to be part of for example a good relocations meaning that if you really look at them you want to be we want them to be better off rather than ourselves right so again I treat them as my brother and sister this is my my citizens and we would like them to be really part of the development process of this Nissan data and there are other pressing issues that the government will have to address before nusantara's unveiling in the year [Music] as the skeleton of the new presidential Palace in nusantara takes shape 20 kilometers away lies sepaku Village in Penang Jam pase uttara Regency [Music] [Music] is the tribal Elder in this Village home to around 100 families also the spiritual leader [Music] for decades they've had to compete with migrants who come to kalamantan to seek new opportunities [Music] as the foundations of new Centura are laid in their backyards some indigenous populations wonder if they will have a home here it is patapi salon [Music] 178 000 people called home but the population will explode from 2024 when 200 000 people are expected to live in Houston Tara believes the newcomers can co-exist with the locals many of them are the transmigrations people has already the third generation of them but they live in harmony with those who are local quote unquote that came here before them right and I think they're very very very minimal conflict data now happening here and they are living Harmony and we would like to maintain that one but the locals will have to be convinced foreign so there's always this feeling of inequality Injustice by the indigenous or the local community when it comes to the development and this feeling of in Injustice later kind of reflected in there in the head to towards the migrants but My worry is really on the kinds of actions that might be taken to prepare for those potential conflicts there has been cases of repressive actions towards conflicts or potential conflicts that actually leads to even more disparity even more disempowerment of indigenous communities of course we are being too speculative here because there's nothing being done yet but this is my worry actually ethnic tension flares up occasionally in Indonesia a country of more than 17 000 islands and 500 ethnic groups telemanta itself made headlines over two decades ago conflict erupted between indigenous groups and migrants from Madura Island of java at least 500 people were killed mostly the maduris many were decapitated as indigenous groups revived head hunting thousands fled and never returned like many other people in kalamantan juban remembers the tragedy he is also a ballet Community leader um so the question of whether nusantara will be ready must consider the social dimension but the speed that the new Centerra project was approved has raised questions if the people are sufficiently prepared the plan was to liberated at parliament in December 2021 and passed into law a month later [Music] foreign Young [Music] [Music] foreign of the government the time is limited for the the current Administration to pass the law right to to make sure that the project is going they need to pass the legal uh basis for this project as soon as possible and if we talk about uh wider public consultation and also more open and transparent discussion on the legislative or regulation it will take long time the name nusantara is also controversial it has roots in the 14th century majapahid Kingdom to describe the islands outside Java where it was based lusantara is seen as java-centric even the name is given from Jakarta so where are the voices of the communities who are actually living there those are the people I think who are most important to be heard and to be taken into account because it's their land how would the new capital represent the local communities the the idea of representation here whose ideas whose cultures the government needs to make sure that the local community indigenous groups are the main actor in the development so making sure that their livelihood is protected their revenue their asset or their rights are protected is important to make sure the locals are not kept out of available opportunities the government has made building schools a priority in nusantara complemented with ongoing educational support we are doing a lot of for example training upskilling and risk killing I don't want them to be the Watcher just watching what is happening here with all the transformation to be a smart and Digital Society no I want them to be part of them and that's why this afternoon for example I open a training on the coding mom solar mama and also coding for this disabled this is you know just an example on how we prepare them the local community to be part of the transportation for the Digital Society in the future and yet for others new Centerra represents opportunity Rudin is marjories and lives in balikpapan 100 kilometers away his car rental business has boomed since construction began yeah [Music] [Music] uh avoiding social conflicts could be a challenge for the government in the new capital and then there is the Environmental cost of building a new city from scratch foreign [Music] tending to his rubber trees observing the tapping process before the sun gets too hot the 58 year old father of three owns around six hectares of rubber plantations that he inherited from his parents in pamaluan village juban says his farm will be affected by the construction of a 47 kilometer tall Road linking Bali bapan with nucentara just like in other areas in pinagan pase uttara Regency the presence of boundary markers puzzle the locals uh um juban says the villagers have not been officially informed by the authorities how the toll road construction will affect their livelihood but based on his own calculations the project will affect most of his plantations leaving him with only one hectare [Music] probably is um foreign thank you santara's Green Vision is Grand it wants to be the most sustainable city in the world the new capital will be the first Indonesian City to achieve a net zero carbon targets but the road to that dream may be a destructive one like juban environmentalist groups are concerned that construction has damaged the area's ecology and whether this concept of green capital is visible we should look at the implementation how the government strict enforcement about the Environmental Protection and this development will certainly affect not only the forest it will affect the habitats the wildlife the animals and also the community there's some indigenous community in that area they all will be affected so going back to the question is there such a thing as a green Capital because if we start from scratch that means that we are assuming that the local communities will change its ways of functioning will change its ways of relating with the environment and how green would that be Indonesia's track record on Environmental Protection is uninspiring the country was previously criticized for walking back on its cop 26 commitment to stop deforestation by 2013. but the government has promised that nusantara will not sacrifice the environment at least 15 million trees will be planted in the city on paper only 25 percent of Indonesia's New Capital will be built up areas the rest green spaces as you see the eye of the global audience will be on us and that's why we have to be very strict with the environment because we want to have our ESG reputation environment social and governance right but I think that we have to really take care of all the environment factors here give us a chance to prove that yes we really would like to reverse the trend as you can see here this is the monocultural production for us and let's see in the 20 years for example whether we can you know transforming this production for us into tropical forest I would say that on paper everything is possible and you can actually put all these ideal components of a city on paper the big question is always in the implementation so how green can it be I guess it's really depends on how consistent the plan would be and looking at the track record of cities in Indonesia whether or not they follow the plan it doesn't look very promising as of now but for mining advocacy group jatam focusing on the site of the capital is myopic the destruction has happened elsewhere in North kalamanta a hydro damp has flooded Villages and disrupted the Cayenne River on the island of sulawesi sand mining for construction material has damaged Hills and the coastal areas foreign and then there are some who worry if the city's green image will be in name only a new Centaurus wanted green spaces become white elephant ecologies foreign foreign can achieve its green targets will be important its eco-friendly image is a draw for investors as president Jacoby recently touted in Singapore a wood class Smart City five percent for us first carbon natural city in Indonesia which has world-class education and health facilities Joe Greene is one singapore-based company that sees the potential of the capital it produces building materials from recycled waste is foreign Indonesia [Music] it is still early days to assess nusantara's sustainability metrics but with the emphasis on the city's green credentials Meeting those targets is now a matter of national pride the poor track record is always haunting the investor before they come to Indonesia but this is actually maybe Indonesia wants to start again this is the opportunity for Indonesia to Showcase that well they are serious Indonesia is serious about implementing the Environmental Protection regulation the enforcement of the sustainability development I think government needs to put serious attention to enforce the environmental regulation we have a game plan for that and we are supported by many organizations so with all the international organizations working with us with a good plan and also a step-by-step consistent implementation we do hope that yes we really means that we want to be a sustainable for a city in the future Big Move planned for 2024 what will happen to Jakarta [Music] Sunday morning in Jakarta it's car free day nearly seven kilometers up the main road through the city are closed for a few hours for jakartans to enjoy walking running or cycling Victor hutakalung is one of those enjoying today's sunny weather he will be among the 200 000 civil servants waiting to be moved to New santara more than one thousand kilometers away foreign [Music] [Music] he and his colleagues wonder ibnu santara will be ready for their big move foreign in contrast to new santara Jakarta is a vibrant if chaotic City the Metropolis has a nickname the big durian named for the fowl smelling spiky fruit that people either hate or love since Independence in 1945 the city grew from a population of 600 000 to 10 million it now has a population density of 14 000 people per square kilometer the most crowded city in Indonesia Jakarta has collected its bad reputation for being a city of traffic jams and a city of floods regular flooding is to be expected in Jakarta and many would attribute it to is geographical as well as theological condition and of course at the same time all the human interventions that has happened throughout history in 1994 there was a presidential decree by suharto it paved the way for land reclamation for Real Estate development in the North Coast of Jakarta yeah as Jakarta grew it is now literally sinking under its own weight at a rate of between 3 to 10 centimeters a year [Music] in um [Music] [Music] lives wife and four children in the northern part of Jakarta he works as a cleaner in a museum the 55 families living in his neighborhood have experienced more flooding in recent years foreign signal so current is up to 25 percent of Jakarta could be submerged by 2050. this is where new Centerra comes in ostensibly the new capital is supposed to relieve the development pressures on Jakarta recipes foreign [Music] people from Jakarta and elsewhere to the new capital by 2045. but nusantara's reception is mixed among the residents of Jakarta for suano even if he had to raise his flaws to avoid the floods he's still happy to call Jakarta home hello um Maria cassia is a retired journalist who was born in Jakarta 56 years ago she too has no intention to leave why should I don't like Jakarta is everything for me actually because yeah you're living here yeah then you have a job here you have a family here and then you mingle with everyone here it's a multi-cultural people living here that's why I love Jakarta then there are those like businessman budhi nugrojo he's been running a coffee shop and co-working space for more than 10 years in one of jakarta's oldest districts he sees the promise of musantara um foreign and this is where critics find a bone of contention with Jakarta in need of development some view news and Tara as a waste of resources is a problem is critical building infrastructure in Jakarta solving the traffic congestion in Jakarta dealing with the flood and also improving the waste management in Jakarta all are important I think the city government will continue building Jakarta saving the city from sinking I don't see any kind of interest from the government or any thought from the government that they will let Jakarta deal with its own problem and made to prevent flooding more public spaces were also built and the transport system was overhauled including constructing an MRT and even if the lucenterra project is successful Jakarta will retain its Crown as the country's cultural capital we see another country for example the USS New York and Washington DC right it is a twin kind of rose of the city will be there yeah so I think that there will be a good division of labor between Jakarta and also Santa in the future [Music] but there is one last important point to consider this is not the first time Indonesia tried to relocate its capital in the late 1950s founding president sukarno initiated the construction of palangkaraya City also in kanamantan to supplant Jakarta when sukana was ousted in the mid-60s the plan was abandoned by the new leadership Indonesia will hold its presidential election next year it is shaping up to be a three cornered contest between defense minister prabowo subianto Central Java Governor ganja pranovo and former Jakarta governor Anis basvedan will president Jacoby's successor abandon his Marquis project I guess that if ganjar becomes the president then this project will be continued under his leadership and then the pdip will fully support this project as well under Parable the second scenario I also think that the likelihood of the project to be continued is very high given prabowo has some stake in that area I think he also think that from the nationalists point of view this is also important to maintain the unity in Indonesia under the third scenario is a bit unclear of course we know that we have the new law on the new capital ibukota nusantara and every president must Implement what the law has already stayed and pianists also as a president will have to follow the law but in a democratic system like in Indonesia the law and regulation can always be challenged but if I can share my prediction what we can see during that time is Jokowi smiling and proudly present what has been built in ibukotanu santara I think what is more important to see is that whether after that ceremony we can see more private Capital come in to the in bukotanu santara mantan work on the new capital continues day and night for bambang at least he imagines a gleaming new city a future home for his countrymen I want to quote the Shakespeare what is a city but its people right so if we have a good sort of like a city although it's still small step by step and it will be owned by the citizens that feel that it's not only a livable City but also a lovable City and there is the target of us in 2024 and Beyond [Music]

Channel: CNA Insider

Views: 361,261

Keywords: ibu kota negara, ikn

Id: XDumGD47Uls

Length: 46min 20sec (2780 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 22 2023