Context-Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo on Monday announced that the capital of the country, which is Jakarta at present, will be relocated to the province of East Kalimantan on the lesser populated island of Borneo.

Reasons for relocation of capital

• Around 40 percent of Jakarta’s land falls below the sea level since most of the city’s mainland spans across an alluvial lowland with an elevation of about 7m from the sea.

• Jakarta was built on a marsh, already a few metres below sea level, it is especially prone to being submerged.

• Due to climate change, the water levels in the Java Sea are rising and weather events are becoming more extreme. A New York Times report attributed to Jakarta, the title of the world’s fastest sinking city.

• The main causes of Jakarta sinking is Jakartans themselves – the digging of illegal wells (because Jakarta does not have adequate piped water) have been steadily draining the underground aquifers on top of which the city sits.

Why East Kalimantan

• East Kalimantan is located over 1,400 km from Jakarta and according to Widodo does not have a history of natural disasters. 
• Furthermore, the government of Indonesia already owns vast amounts of land in the area, the terrain is flat and water resources are sufficient.

Concern

• Some environmentalists, however, are not happy with the decision since the forests of the East Kalimantan region are home to orangutans, sun-bears and long-nosed monkeys. The area is also equipped with coal reserves.