Relocating the nation's capital to East Kalimantan is a correct move since Jakarta's burden has become heavier and can no longer be supported by the regions around Jakarta.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The policy to relocate and develop the nation's capital (IKN), Nusantara, is correct because Jakarta's capability to support and provide service as IKN has declined, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo has opined.

"The growth of modernity presents an increasingly complex and dynamical challenge, which necessitates a capital city that can facilitate efficient and effective governance," he noted in a statement issued on Tuesday.

"In addition, it should also have a competitiveness as a smart, green, and beautiful city," he said.

The proposal to relocate the nation's capital outside Java Island has already existed since the era of Indonesia's first president, Soekarno, who proposed to relocate the capital from Jakarta to Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, he explained.

Soeharto, Indonesia's second president, had also proposed relocating the nation's capital to Jonggol, West Java, through the Presidential Decree No. 1 of 1997, he said.

"However, to this day, these relocation proposals were not realized due to various reasons," Soesatyo remarked.

"Relocating the nation's capital to East Kalimantan is a correct move since Jakarta's burden has become heavier and can no longer be supported by the regions around Jakarta," he said.

The development of IKN Nusantara is not a simple matter because it requires the focus of all stakeholders, he noted.

Currently, the legal basis for IKN Nusantara development is Law No. 3 of 2022 on Nation's Capital, he said.

"Based on Bappenas' (National Development Planning Board's) main plan, the development of IKN Nusantara starts from 2022 until 2045," the speaker informed.

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"There are many parties who have (expressed) concern that the development of IKN Nusantara will stop halfway. All of us certainly do not want that to happen," he added.

To sustain IKN Nusantara's development, MPR will strengthen the legal umbrella by presenting state policy guidelines (PPHN) because it has a stronger legal standing compared to a law, he added.

As a result, no matter who gets elected after President Joko Widodo, they will continue IKN development.

Moreover, Law No. 3 of 2022 on Nation's Capital may also possibly become the object of legislative review at the House of Representatives (DPR) along with a judicial review at the Constitutional Court.

This allows the possibility of development being stopped midway.

Related news: Central Kalimantan maps strategic regions as buffer for new capital





Translator: Imam B, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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