KNews.id- Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s plan to move the country’s capital city (IKN) to East Kalimantan Province has not only invited various reactions within the country.In fact, the international community is also in the spotlight. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, also opened his voice regarding the transfer of IKN to East Kalimantan. Joe Biden raised the issue of IKN transfer when he gave a speech regarding the threat of climate change.
Biden said, if the projection is correct, then in the next 10 years the government will have to move IKN, because the current capital city, Jakarta will be flooded.
“If the projection is right for the next 10 years, they (Indonesia) will have to move their capital city because it may be submerged in water,” said Joe Biden as quoted by Hops.ID from the BeritaSatu Youtube channel on Wednesday, February 2.
The projected sinking of a third of Jakarta by 2050 is indeed one of the considerations behind the transfer of IKN to Kalimantan.A number of foreign experts also highlighted this. Analyst from the Paterson Institute, USA, Gary Hufbauer said seeing what was planned by the Indonesian government at this time, he remembered the relocation of the Brazilian capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in the 1970s and 1980s.
“I remember moving the Brazilian capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia, and it was a big project in the 1970s and 1980s,” says Gary Hufbauer.
According to him, the IKN transfer project is unlikely to be completed in a short time. In fact, it could be longer than one period of government. This is because there is so much to build and move.
“But it took longer than originally thought. You have to move people, build all the infrastructure, and so on. So it’s not something that can happen in one term,” he said.
Besides Indonesia, another country that will also move its capital city in the near future is Egypt. The Pyramid Country plans to move its capital from 2024 to a new administrative city east of the current capital, Cairo. Previously, Myanmar moved the capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw.In addition, South Korea also transferred some administrative affairs from Seoul to Sejong.
But, according to analysts, Indonesia’s planned relocation of the capital city from Java to Kalimantan is far more ambitious.“Everything was built in one landmark. (For comparison) for example in South Korea, or Malaysia with Putrajaya, it (the transfer of IKN from Java to Kalimantan) is much more expensive, the investment is even higher,” said Australian National University analyst Greg Fealy.He added that if it wasn’t planned properly, a lot of money would be wasted. In addition, various problems will arise in the process, one of which is corruption.
“This is not well planned. It can also waste millions, possibly billions of dollars. Risk of corruption and so on. So there are a lot of problems that I think will arise in the development of new cities (IKN) in Kalimantan,” he said.
Meanwhile, an analyst from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (Grips), Japan, Guanie Lim, said that the IKN project has the opportunity to be postponed for now.
“Things like this can be postponed. Not on purpose, but it could be because of the emergence of Covid, so all work stops, those are things that are out of control,” said Guanie Lim.
In addition, related to other issues such as land acquisition, it will be difficult for IKN to transfer.
“Another issue is that land acquisition is very complicated. Problems like this don’t just exist in Indonesia,” he added.
As is known, the government has planned to move IKN from Jakarta to East Kalimantan. The office of the President, Vice President and a number of ministries are planned to be moved in 2024. Then, the government also plans to complete the new State Palace which is targeted to be completed at the end of Jokowi’s term. (AHM)
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