VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Regional development deputy of the National Development Planning (PPN) Ministry and National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Rudy S. Prawiradinata - 

The relocation of the national capital is aimed at shifting the economic center and realizing economic equality in Indonesia, an official from the National Development Planning (PPN) Ministry and National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) has said.

"For the last several years, Java Island's contribution to the national economy has been 58.75 percent," Rudy S. Prawiradinata noted during a national webinar on Friday, according to a statement issued on Saturday.

"To this end, capital city relocation from Jakarta to North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, aims to shift the economic center to realize equality," he said.

Moreover, to optimize this goal, the capital city relocation will be done along with the development of economic clusters to spur urbanization in East Kalimantan, he added.

The population growth within the capital city is estimated to reach 1.7–1.9 million by 2045, Prawiradinata informed.

During the same period, average investment growth in the capital city is targeted to reach 11.9 percent, while in the entire East Kalimantan, it is targeted to touch 4.2 percent, he said.

"The economic driver in the capital city will be supported by Balikpapan and Samarinda," he added.

Speaking at the same webinar, political and strategic issues observer Imron Cotan said that the relocation of the capital city from Jakarta to North Penajam Paser is necessary.

This is due to the fact that Jakarta's area of 661.5 square km is no longer sufficient for providing comfortable housing to its residents, he explained.

"The comfortable living space standard set by the World Health Organization for one person is 9 to 50 square meters," he said.

"Thus, Jakarta, with a population of 11.25 million people, requires public spaces with the size of at least 112.5 million square meters," he added.

In addition, if this adequate space is not met, it could potentially trigger social unrest, he said.

Cramped living spaces, dense population, and limited economic sources tend to make people aggressive, which can result in social unrest, which is common to big cities, he explained.

"Capital city relocation from Jakarta to Nusantara can prevent demographic explosion in the form of social unrest," Cotan claimed.

"East Kalimantan residents that I have met some time ago were very supportive of this capital city relocation because it will create fair economic opportunities," he remarked//ANT