Indonesia Will Relocate 16,990 Civil Servants to New Capital in 2024

Liputan6.com, Balikpapan - More than fifteen thousand civil servants must get ready to pack their bags and live in the new capital Nusantara. Early next year, the authority will bring 16,990 civil servants to the area in East Kalimantan.

The Ministry of Bureaucratic Reform said the civil servants would be relocated gradually at the start or middle of 2024. The civil servants will have to live in apartments.

Neither the city center nor apartments has been built yet, but the size of the apartments will be 98 meter square to accommodate the family members of the workers.

"For the houses of the civil servants will be in the forms of apartments with 12 floors and some towers," said Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga, the chief of the National Capital Infrastructure Development Task Force during a visit in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan Province, on Saturday (14/1/2023).

The Ministry of Public Works and Housing already asked the Ministry of Finance to provide Rp 9,4 trillions (US$ 622 millions) to build 47 towers, but still no response from the treasury. The request was made despite Minister for Finance Sri Mulyani's warning of the weakening economy in 2023.

The development of the Nusantara is said to rely on the national budget, and the government has established contracts with the property company Summarecon Agung, CCFG-Risjadson Brunsfield Nusantara consortium (CCFC-RBN), and Korea Land and Housing Corporation (KLHC).

The development of the new capital is set to be divided into five stages for 23 years. The Stage I (2022-2024) is still ongoing, the next stages are planned to be conducted in 2025-2029, 2030-2034, 2035-2039, and finally 2040-2045.

The government has released the fantastic design for the new palace in Nusantara. The design shows the palace's structure will span wide like a bird opening its wings. The government also promoted the new capital as a smart and forest city.

But the elephant in the room is the funding. In December last year, Bloomberg released a revealing report that President Joko Widodo's government was still unable to secure investment for the capital project which could reach $34 billion.

The relocation to Kalimantan has received positive signal from the former president Megawati Soekarnoputri who is the leader of Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) in which President Jokowi is a member. During his visit to Seoul in 2019, Megawati said Jakarta was too crowded. 

However, Megawati previously supported to relocate the capital to Central Kalimantan which was the idea of her father, the first president Soekarno.

But now there are questions whether this capital relocation can go on if President Widodo's coalition does not win the next election in 2024. 

One strong presidential contender, Anies Baswedan, already gave criticism about the project. Anies felt the public was not involved enough. 

"The formation of the new capital in Kalimantan, the political proses was very minimal, and the public involvement and participation were minimal as well," said the former governor of Jakarta.

Previously, Anies also voiced doubt that the notorious traffic problems in Jakarta would disappear by relocating the capital. 

$1: Rp 15,109

Maulandy Rizky Bayu Kencana, Lizsa Egeham Putu Merta Surya Putra contributed to this report.