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Due to excessive groundwater extraction, the Indonesian capital Jakarta and its 11 million people are sinking below sea level at a worrying rate. This phenomenon has led the Indonesian government to make a radical decision: move the capital more than 1,500 kilometers away and create a new city from scratch on the island of Borneo, in one of the largest expanses of tropical rainforest in the world.
In the northern districts of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, the inhabitants owe their survival solely to a 5-meter-high wall that winds along the coast, the only wall that protects the city from the ocean. More than 40% of Jakarta’s area is already below sea level and would be partially submerged without this dam built five years ago.
From Jakarta to ‘Nusantara’
But residents like Muhammad Ronny know this solution is temporary: The wall is already covered in cracks that serve as a daily reminder of the threat looming over Jakarta.
1,500 kilometers away, in the heart of the island of Borneo, a gigantic construction site has sprung up. It is there, in more than 56,000 hectares of forest destined for the paper industry, where the future capital of Indonesia is emerging from the ground. According to government forecasts, ‘Nusantara’ will be a futuristic and environmentally friendly city, which wants to be a pioneer in the development of green energy.
threatened ecosystem
This colossal project of 33,000 million euros outrages the natives of the surrounding towns, since some should be evicted to make way for the future capital and its two million inhabitants expected in 2036.
The project also raises concerns among environmentalists. The ecosystem on the island of Borneo is already weakened by intensive oil palm cultivation and many endemic species could be threatened.
Lucie Berbey and Ulysse Cailloux report from Jakarta and Borneo on the logic and challenges of this unprecedented decision.
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