The Indonesian DPR, Thursday (28/3) determined special status for Jakarta, maintaining the metropolitan city as the country’s economic center, amid plans to move the capital to the island of Kalimantan.
Indonesia plans to move its capital from busy Jakarta, to Capital City of the Archipelago (IKN), a $32 billion city being built in the forests of East Kalimantan.
The city is a flagship project of President Joko Widodo, who has promised to redistribute wealth and development currently concentrated in Java, throughout the archipelago.
An “agglomeration” council will be set up to harmonize development plans between Jakarta and its satellite cities, according to a copy of the new law dated March 18 seen by Reuters.
After deliberations at the DPR, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian said that Jakarta still had to improve so that it could compete with other “world class cities” after the center of government was moved to the archipelago.
“After it is no longer the capital, it still has to be sealed with special status so that it can accelerate economic growth and increase its contribution to the country’s GDP,” he said.
Under current regulations, Jakarta will remain Indonesia’s capital until the president issues an official decree designating the archipelago as the new capital, which is expected to be implemented this year.
The government is expected to hold a 2024 independence day ceremony on August 17 in the archipelago and thousands of civil servants are expected to move there by the end of this year. (ab/uh)
