Again, Foreign Media Highlight Jokowi's Plan to Move to the New Capital City
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Foreign media has once again highlighted Indonesia's new capital city, Nusantara. This time the French media, AFP.
In the article "New Indonesia capital imperils ancient Eden with 'ecological disaster'", the media explained how Nusantara will replace Jakarta which is threatened with sinking and "polluted" due to politics.
"However a trip .. to the vast green expanse of zero point of the Archipelago reveals the scale of the potential impact of the new capital on a biodiversity area that is home to thousands of species of animals and plants," wrote the media, published Friday (6/1/2023).
Archipelago in 2045 will accommodate 1.9 million inhabitants, importing human and industrial waves to the region. This is feared to disturb the shelter for a number of animals ranging from long-nosed monkeys, clouded leopards, pig-tailed monkeys, bats to rare rhinos.
The media also includes how Indonesia has the highest deforestation rate in the world, related to mining, agriculture and logging. However, on the other hand, it was also mentioned how the government said it wanted to spread economic development which had long been centered on Java to other islands.
Actually, the spotlight on the new capital is not only this. December, Strait Times quoting Bloomberg, also wrote a report "Ambitious Plans to Build Indonesia a Brand New Capital City Are Falling Apart".
This illustrates how ambitious the government's plan to build a new capital city is. However, it is called "messy".
Sources cited how more than three years after Nusantara was first announced, not a single foreign party had signed a binding contract to finance the project. Whether supported by the state or private.
"While some potential investors have indeed signed letters of intent, there has been no firm commitment to actual spending," the paper wrote, citing its sources.
It was reported that investment interest was oversubscribed 25 times. However, there was no explanation as to whether a binding contract had been signed.
Several local observers also commented on the article. Foreign investors, according to one of the analysts interviewed, are being very careful.
"Because this project is still in its early stages," said a person from the strategic business advisory firm Global Counsel, Dedi Dinarto.
Project delays due to the pandemic have made potential project backers hesitant to commit. Not to mention, most of the initial development work focuses on early stages such as roads and bridges.
"Investors may still have doubts about how they can benefit from investing in such basic infrastructure," the media quoted Dinarto as saying.
source : https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20230106124302-4-403409/lagi-media-asing-sorot-plan-jokowi-transfer-ibu-kota-baru