28 August 2019 10:57 am
Indonesia on Monday revealed the long-awaited site for its new $33-billion capital on the forested island of Borneo to replace the crowded, polluted megacity of Jakarta, which is slowly sinking into the sea.
The as-yet unnamed new capital will straddle the regions of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara in Indonesia’s province of East Kalimantan on Borneo, President Joko Widodo told a news conference
The capital of the world’s fourth most populous country, on the island of Java, is now home to 10 million people and is prone to floods, traffic gridlock and faces the risk of earthquakes.
The as-yet unnamed new capital will straddle the regions of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara in Indonesia’s province of East Kalimantan on Borneo, President Joko Widodo told a news conference.
But environmentalists fear the move will hasten the destruction of forests that are home to orangutans, sun bears and long-nosed monkeys, as well as increasing pollution already on the rise from coal mining and palm oil industries.
JAKARTA REUTERS 26 Aug 2019