Transferring a Megacity: From city to jungle, Indonesia’s arrangement to stream its Capital | Foreign Correspondent

Jakarta one of the world's great mega cities is at Breaking Point home to 30 million people and sinking a clogged and polluted Capital the pollution is something that you can taste that's how bad it is and the president determined to forge a bold solution before or he leaves.

Office now Indonesia is embarking on a radical plan to start aresh and build a new capital city not near Jakarta but more than a th000 kilom away deep in the jungles of Borneo a grand plan promising a utopian Forest City that's clean green and sustainable it looks like.

Beautiful and unbelievable and also smart for a city but not everyone is on board this project is a white elephant that Wast limited resources 10,000 laborers like these guys are working day and night to get this Mega project built but with the clock ticking down can Indonesia really.

Pull this off and have a functioning Capital up and running before the year is out the plan going into reality is something that I dream of inshallah we call it we will make it Jakarta is one of the world's great.

Bustling cities each year new towers rise to the sky and it's up High where the first major problem of this Metropolis becomes obvious the constant thick Haze Jakarta is one of the world's worst capital cities for air pollution car exhaust fumes are a major factor along with coal fired power.

Plants nearby but there are some creative methods to try to disperse it okay man is water first step turn on the water into the bucket full of water turn on the tap water goes through the final step yeah plug it.

In jakarta's government has ordered all tall buildings in the middle of the city to install water spray machines the Mist is supposed to improve the air quality at least around each building that has one.

s maintenance man sisno and his team made this machine out of parts that cost less than $300 and can you see a difference do you think when you turn it on when you when you look around the building so this is this is more about complying with the.

Regulations rather than actually making a concrete difference despite the water spray pollution levels regularly choke the city most days pollution levels in Jakarta hover between 5 to 10 times the World Health organization's recommended standard yeah I don't know where they.

Got the idea from actually that misting building again that I think that's typical Indonesia government they just only work on the symptoms but never really work on the source of the problem Elisa sua is a former architect and urban activist the pollution is something that you can.

Taste that's how bad it is usually it's just something you see but this is now in jakata something you can taste as well she got so fed up with the dirty air she successfully sued the national government to change their air quality standard W head air quality standard is 15 for example but Indonesia standard is 65 Elisa is cleare eyed on the city's.

Problems but doesn't think they justify moving the capital you still have to fix the problem doesn't mean you can run away from this problem is that the feeling that some people have that the new capital is is kind of giving up on jakata and so yeah probably the government don't really want to solve the problem so just.

Run away from it when it comes to problems Jakarta has many and on ground level there's one issue everyone talks about every day track congestion like this costs the Indonesian economy an estimated $6 billion a year I'm on my way now to North jakata which is about 20 km away but in a car in this traffic it could.

Take hours just hoping on one of these bikes it'll be a little bit quicker it's a slow crawl to the the northern edge of Jakarta but I've arrived okay hey Sumo nice to meet you very nice to meet you this is uh where you work I've come to meet motorbike repairman.

Sumo he fixes scooters out the front of this shop and has lived here for his entire life okay it's an area battling one of the biggest problems facing this Mega City Jakarta is.

Sinking by 2050 it's estimated around a quarter of the city will be submerged Sumo lives in a humid room hidden by the Alleyways hello with his wife and seven-month-old son less than half of jakarta's population has access to piped water with many.

Residents forced to buy water in others pump groundw from Wells causing the ground to sink in some places up to 10 cm a year along with rising sea levels Jakarta has been hit by two devastating tidal floods in the past decade for to prevent future flooding government.

Authorities have built a giant seaw wall let's have a look yeah yeah but Sumo says he's not confident it will be enough to stop the water next time no one knows when the next big floods will come Sumo just tries to put it all out of his mind hello brother.

Brother he is one of the millions of people who won't be moving to the new capital city Indonesia president Joko wodo isn't the first Indonesian leader to propose.

Moving the capital the nation's postc Colonial leader suano had the idea originally followed by others including military dictator suaro but in 2019 president Joko wodo Resurrected the audacious plan to ease the burden on Jakarta and boost the national economy Beyond.

Java the new capital would be built more than 1,000 kilm away in East C Manan on Borneo Island and this is the Grand Vision called ibukota newara or ik for short the government promises the new city will be smart convenient and powered by renewable energy a so-called Forest City.

Where by 2045 nearly 2 million people will live with the Dead line for the first goal of the project just 6 months away and with Joko wo's term as president ending shortly I want to find out how the new capital is progressing so I'm leaving the smog of Jakarta it's currently not an easy.

Journey to reach the location of the new capital it's a 2-hour flight to the port city of balik papan in East Cy Manan and then another 2 hours drive through the jungle where it's not the traffic holding us up this is actually the first time I've been to this part of Indonesia and it's quite amazing the jungle is just so.

Thick and Lush our car even got stopped by a group of monkeys it just feels so so different to Jakarta soon the jungle gives way to the dusty rattle of trucks a frenzy of activity as 10,000 workers toil Under The Tropical Sun to carve a city out of the.

Hills the work made all the more Urgent by the imminent arrival of the president himself for a 3-day visit Indonesia he's come for a whirlwind series of groundbreaking ceremonies a new mall an international school ground.

Breaking de the president has just gone from one groundbreaking to another groundbreaking ceremony he's keeping a hectic schedule because he wants to stress his project is on track his Entourage brings Jakarta style.

Congestion to the construction site but there's no slowing down the man in charge it's a message of much needed Assurance this event is all about Shoring up confidence with a hefty $45 billion.

Price tag the government desperately needs private investors especially from overseas and despite a law forcing future governments to continue building the upcoming change of leader is creating uncertainty so far no foreign investors have signed up it might be the president's Pet.

Project but it's his right-hand man who has the massive job of making it happen bum bang Susan tono has been put in charge of the new capital Authority the powerful body that answers directly to the president at each groundbreaking event I try to get a word with him but he's a hard man to.

Catch instead the face of the new capital is my tour guide I catch your ey you throw a glance after winning Miss East calaman Natasia prianka is now helping sell Indonesia's New Capital to the Next Generation tell me about Miss East caman 10an yeah so this is butter Indonesia it's kind of like they are uh looking.

For a woman leader the woman who's going to change and also be the voice of Hope for others Woman and also for the people in is KH Natasia is a passionate advocate of the new Sentara dream but it wasn't always that way so when you you first heard about it you were a bit worried were you yeah I bit worried uh when.

Someone asked me about how what do you think about the new capital city that going to move to isal I was like oh my God no no way because it's going to destroy our our forest blah blah blah blah blah but when I joined this aorita and I learned more I learn a lot about this new capital city I just like no it's not destroying but we.

Rebuild wherever she goes tourists on a nationalistic pilgrimage to Indonesia's New Capital want her photo a team follows her around but as the rain sets in she has plenty more to show me at first I really amazed about how big it is and the construction is really.

Fast the grow is really fast like um last week you didn't see anything here and then next month you see something yeah the sky of it is amazing yes the new capital city you're going to see like this is not too good to be true but it's going to be true and it's going to be fantastic when they say too good to be true what do they mean um I guess.

Maybe they think like this is so it is the fion that a long fion journey and we have to done this just for until 2045 maybe they're not ready yet they feel like it might be too hard to pull this off yeah what do you think it's not hard when we come together hand in hand and and support this new Capal city with the things that we can do maybe the small.

Things can make a bigger things she's taking me to see the core government area where civil servants are supposed to work later this year but we're struggling to get there have to change to a different car I'm worried about your shoes it's okay hopefully this four-wheel drive can.

Get us through this place safe safely be careful this is wild okay thank you with a four-wheel drive we push on to the vantage point to finally get a glimpse of what this new capital will look like wow look at this yes the new capital city of Indonesia this is where it's all happening yes that is what are.

We looking at here there over there is the presidental Palace yes the most important building I hear yes the very important one for an Independence Day in August in August yes just a few months mhm the pressure is on not everyone is happy to see this new city.

Emerge it's 3:00 a.m. and just outside the boundary of the city yti Dalia a member of the indigenous ballet Community is at the beginning of a long day for before work on the new capital began Dalia ran a profitable business selling food from her family home she's now trying to make a living.

Selling food to workers and tourists at this newly built rest area owned by the capital Authority it's only a few minutes drive to Dalia's old house right next to the highway so many trucks trucks.

Dalia has been offered some compensation for her property but had to move her family before saving it fore.

as the sun sets over the new capital site we finally catch bambang sus anono for a chat so much for your time you're a busy man okay that's my job job Buck bum buam it's your job to make this new capital happen you must have a lot of pressure do you feel it yes I guess the Press is there because it's going to be.

A challenge for anybody who is taking this job right because we are going to uh develop not only uh a city but a capital city and not only a capital city but a sustainable for a city with all the principle of green smart inclusive resilience and sustainable is there a risk that future governments in.

Indonesia might flip on this project and cancel it yeah so it will be very difficult to change the course of course for that right I'm not saying that it's impossible but you know it's very difficult for them but are you worried that costs are going to blow out and that the Indonesian taxpayer will end up footing much of the bill uh I hope that.

At the end of the day we are going to find some creative financing we need from the state budget because we need it to jump up and also to uh create the confidence of the private center and uh create some comfort for the investors to come because uh they they they must see that the government itself is committed threat you don't lose any sleep over.

Meeting these deadlines of course I I lose some sleep sometimes I dream about always about my work here but that's part of the life and that's part of my job back in jakata and back to the smog and traffic Economist Yousef wio has been watching the roll out of the new capital closely he says Indonesia can't afford.

The project and it won't attract investors he also says it's rushed and undemocratic is it difficult to speak out against it to be honest yeah.

Will this project end up being a white elephant C it's Sunday morning in the city center what's normally a congested Landmark now transformed in a city with little green in space this window for a few hours is.

A chance for people to get out and about carfree Sunday is a regular fixture for thousands of people here and a weekly ritual for friends haris mudin and Arif Amber prti but hares and AR won't be doing these weekly runs for too much longer as civil servant they're in line to be moved soon.

To new santara Arif you'll be one of the first people to move to the capital how do you feel but both agree Jakarta is overburdened and that a new capital will help ease some of the city's.

Pressures whether Indonesia will complete its Grand Design is yet to be seen 2045 is a long time away a change of government is imminent nothing's.

Guaranteed as far as hariss is concerned this historic move to a new farway capital is happening but there's no doubt which city will remain home fore.

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