VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

After serious consideration, the Indonesian government has chosen to move the capital city out of Java.

"In a limited meeting, the president has decided to move the capital city out of Java," Minister of the National Planning and Development/Head of the National Development Planning Agency Bambang Brodjonegoro said after the limited meeting on the Follow-Up Plan for the Transfer of Capital at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Monday.

According to Bambang, the technical aspects, city design and "master plan" for the construction of a new capital city would be discussed at the next meeting.

Bambang explained three options with regard to the agency's study regarding the transfer of the capital city. The first option is to allow the capital to remain in the vicinity of the presidential palace and the Jakarta National Monument with government offices located in the area.

While the second option is to move the location of the capital city to an area close to Jakarta (the current capital city) around Bogor-Depok-Tangerang-Bekasi (Bodetabek), the third choice is to move the government capital out of Java.

"If we move to an area in Java, especially only around Jakarta, it does not reduce the burden of Java and does not make the development more Indonesian-centric, but rather, strengthens the island of Java," said Bambang.

In addition, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono also said that the government would need 40 thousand hectares of land if it chooses to move the capital city outside Java to accommodate all the civil servants.

"If the civil servants move partially, around 870 thousand residents, then (the government) would need up to 30,000 hectares of land," Basuki said.

He explained that the area with minimal disaster risk is on the island of Kalimantan.

Previously, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also proposed the Mamuju area in West Sulawesi as one of the choices in the capital city.

However, Basuki said the government has yet to decide on a region for the capital city and explained that the setting up of government offices such as ministry offices and institutions, residential settlements, and infrastructure would take around four to five years. (ant)