VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

On August 16, 2019, President Joko Widodo officially asked permission from the parliament members to move the central government to Kalimantan. One week later, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning / Head of the National Land Agency, Sofyan Djalil said that the new location of Indonesia’s capital would certainly in East Kalimantan Province. However, he emphasized that the land acquisition for the new capital is still awaiting official announcement from President Joko Widodo. President Joko Widodo confirmed that his side is doing a series of studies. But not revealed anything that has not been completed about the transfer plan of the capital. To be sure, President Joko Widodo will immediately announce it when he has received the full results of the study. The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), which is the largest environmental movement organization in Indonesia, also responded the  statements of the state officials. On one hand, WALHI doubted the government's concern for the environmental impact behind the transfer plan of Indonesia’s new capital. On the other hand, Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR), Herman Khaeron asked the government to first propose the concept of capital relocation openly to the DPR. Although the transfer plan of the capital has been widely reported and is becoming public consumption, Herman emphasized that his side has not received official written notification regarding the government's plan to move the capital of Jakarta to Kalimantan. He considers that the right process is that the government must first propose the concept of moving the capital to the DPR for comprehensive discussion. He also emphasized that the policy of moving the country's capital must be determined by law. Obviously, there are still important matters that must be resolved to seriously move the nation's capital to the right and safe territory for long term. So, moving the capital does not need to be done in a hurry, let alone to cause confusing statements by the public.