Jokowi scouts sites as Indonesia capital move gathers pace

Bloomberg

Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Borneo island to survey possible locations for a new capital, fast-tracking a plan to move the administrative headquarters out of over-crowded and congested Jakarta.
Widodo, known as Jokowi, arrived at Balikpapan city in East Kalimantan and visited Bukit Soeharto, one of the locations being considered for the capital, his office said in a statement.
The president is scheduled to visit Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan province and review another possible site
for the capital on Wednesday,
it said.
Jokowi revived the decades-old plan to set up a new capital as the population in Jakarta and its suburbs continues to swell, having hit about 30 million people. Already one one of the world’s most congested cities, the coastal metropolis is also sinking by as much as 6 inches every year and is hit by frequent flooding.
While the selection of the site for a new administrative capital may be several months away, town planners and political analysts have been pointing to Palangkaraya, the capital of Central Kalimantan. The city of about 260,000, which is relatively free from natural disasters and located near the centre of the vast archipelago, has been mooted as an option for a new capital since the 1960s.
In a meeting with heads of state agencies, Jokowi said the government was serious about moving the capital by zeroing in on three alternatives.
The area of the shortlisted sites ranged from 80,000 hectares to 300,000 hectares,
he said.
Bukit Soeharto was among the locations under government’s consideration for the past year and a half, Jokowi
said, adding its proximity to
airports in Balikpapan and Samarinda and toll roads will
be supportive.