SBY Sees Expanded Jakarta as New Option to Reduce Capital Burden

SBY Sees Expanded Jakarta as New Option to Reduce Capital Burden
Armando Siahaan | January 11, 2011


Jakarta traffic is one of the factors pushing the government to find solutions to reduce the capital's burden. On Tuesday, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha says President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed a desire to see 'a bigger and wider Jakarta.' (Antara Photo)


If moving the capital to another location is too difficult, why not just expand it?

The Indonesian government has been struggling to find a solution to the massively overcrowded Jakarta, and has been toying with the idea of completely relocating the capital -- an idea that, while not impossible, would take time and a lot of money.

Now, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha says President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono "has expressed a desire to see a bigger and wider Jakarta."

Julian said areas that have been considered for Jakarta's expansion are Purwakarta and Sukabumi in West Java. Cirebon, located between West Java and Central Java, could be considered too.

The idea is that once the city has been expanded, the capital would remain in Jakarta, but the administrative centers could be moved to the expansion areas.

This, Julian said, was just an option and the government was still open to relocating the capital to a place completely outside Jakarta, or even outside of Java Island.

“There are discourses on how some areas could be ideal alternatives as the country’s capital,” he said.

Moreover, Yudhoyono is also open to the idea of maintaining Jakarta as the financial hub, while establishing a new administrative center elsewhere.

In August, Velix Wanggai, the presidential adviser for regional autonomy and development, said that Yudhoyono was “seriously considering” the idea of moving the nation’s capital, amid calls for the government to further decentralize power to the regions.

Among the core issues the president had considered, Wanggai said, were flooding, population density, urbanization and vulnerability to natural disasters like earthquakes. Jakarta scored poorly on all points, he said.



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