Inside Indonesia’s £24bn plan to move sinking capital Jakarta 1,200 miles to a remote island inhabited by jungle tribes

INDONESIAN authorities have revealed blueprints to move sinking capital Jakarta 1,200 miles away to a remote island inhabited by jungle tribes in a £24billion project. At least 20,000 people from the country’s 21 indigenous groups living in the area earmarked will be forced to make way for the new city – which it’s estimated will take more than two decades to construct. A CGI image of what the new city could look like Plans include a 150-metre tall presidential palace It would see 1.5million of Jakarta’s 10.5million population relocated As Jakarta continues to sink, Indonesia’s parliament has rubber-stamped plans to relocate the city to a jungle island on the East Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo, which the country shares with Malaysia and Brunei. Some 1,200 miles away from where the capital sits now, the island will be named Nusantara after undergoing a transformation worth an eye-watering £24billion. The proposed city will cover around 216 square miles, but in total almost 1,000 square miles have been set aside for the project – with the additional land reserved for potential future expansion. It would see 1.5million of Jakarta’s 10.5million population relocated as predictions suggest that by 2050, around 95 per cent of North Jakarta will be submerged. Early plans for the new capital depict a utopian design aimed at creating an environmentally friendly “smart” city, but few details have been confirmed. It will, however, see new government offices and a 150-metre tall presidential palace built. Most read in The Sun RAPE PROBE Mason Greenwood arrested on suspicion of rape & GBH after domestic abuse claim BENCHED Danniella Westbrook threatens BBC with legal action after EastEnders recasts her ADE CHANT SHAME Wycombe's Akinfenwa furiously confronts MK Dons fans over abusive chant 'trouble in paradise' Adele's relationship 'on rocks' & 'real reason' she axed Vegas gigs TROUBLED STAR Rylan Clark filmed demanding 'gimme the f***ing gear' in worrying vid deja-vu? 'Classist' Molly-Mae & Tommy slammed after 'fascinating' trip to bargain store But environmentalist critics of the new capital have warned it could damage ecosystems in the region, where mining and palm oil plantations already threaten rainforests that are home to Borneo’s endangered species, including orangutans. “The construction of the new capital city is not merely a physical move of government offices,” President Joko Widodo said ahead of parliament’s approval of the plan earlier this month, according to the Associated Press. “The main goal is to build a smart new city, a new city that is competitive at the global level, to build a new locomotive for the transformation toward an Indonesia based on innovation and technology based on a green economy.” But the plans have been slammed by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), which says laws enabling the move from Jakarta do not providing enough protection for the communities’ land rights. “The project will trigger problems such as confiscation of customary lands and criminalisation of indigenous people when they try to defend their rights,” Muhammad Arman, AMAM’s Policy, Law and Human Rights Advocacy Director, told AFP. “They will also lose their traditional jobs such as farming.” Data compiled by AMAN in 2019 shows that at least 13 customary lands, which are administered according to indigenous customs, were located in the new capital area in North Penajam Paser. Indigenous communities on Borneo are already locked in ongoing conflict with corporations, which have been given plantation contracts on around 115 square miles that overlap with customary lands. “It is like a double run over for indigenous communities. First, they have to fight the business sector and in the future, they will have to face their own government for the new capital project,” Arman said. A recent investigation carried out by rights groups including AMAN uncovered at least 162 permits for mining, plantations, and forestry and coal-based power plants have been granted in the new capital area. Plans to begin construction in 2020 were hampered by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The development of the area will take place in several stages until 2045. The project will cost £24billion and will take more than two decades to complete It is estimated that one-third of Jakarta could be submerged by 2050