Commentary: Jokowis curious plan for Indonesiasnew capital

SYDNEY: After winning a second and final term, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced: “I have no burden now. Im not thinking about next elections … so I will do whatever it takes for the countrys sake.”

Just a month later, Jokowi, as Widodo is known, declared that Indonesias capital city would move 1,300km away from Jakarta to East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.

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This was hardly the kind of ambition most were hoping for in a second Jokowi term. Such a move had been discussed perennially but never acted upon.

But this time, Jokowi seems serious. At an eye-watering cost of Rp 466 trillion (US$33 billion), government functions will shift to Indonesian Borneo, while Jakarta remains a commercial hub.

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JAKARTA ISNT GOING ANYWHERE

Proponents see the move as a way to help address Jakartas many woes – including traffic congestion and the fact that the city is rapidly sinking – while making government less Java-centric and bringing it closer to the people.

READ: Commentary: Indonesia's plans to move its capital out of Java may not solve underlying issues

But moving the capital wont fix Jakartas problems. Only 180,000 civil servants and 141,000 government vehicles of the citys 10 million inhabitants and 17 million registered private vehicles are set to leave for Kalimantan in 2024. Moving so few will alleviate little pressure from the megacity.

As outlined succinctly by economists Paul Burke and Martin Siyaranamual earlier this year, Jakarta isnt going anywhere – and neither is its pollution, illegal well digging, and traffic.

From Kalimantans perspective, building a new large city also has major implications for the environment and the regions indigenous Dayak Paser people, who potentially face further displacement and marginalisation.

Though hosting a new city will create more jobs in the area, few from East Kalimantan will be well-placed to win formal government jobs, compared with experienced bureaucrats shipped in from Jakarta.

Its also hard to see how moving the central government will help improve governance.

The Indonesian system is already one of the most decentralised in the world, with over 500 local governments receiving a minimum 26 per cent of the central governments net domestic revenues and a share of national resource revenues.

Its unclear how moving the locus of central bureaucratic activity will make government more responsive to the people.

A TURN FOR THE WORSE?

Conversely, it is easy to imagine how governance might instead worsen.

Forcing civil servants to leave Jakartas comforts for what is currently a forest will only make it harder to attract and retain the kind of capable public servants Indonesia needs in the face of stiff competition from the private sector.

READ: The Big Read: Beset with problems and losing its capital status, Jakarta still a city of dreams for many

Counter-productively, the move may also put even more distance between the countrys central policymakers and the public they are supposed to serve.

After all, how will ordinary Indonesians protest en masse as seen recently if they earn approximately Rp 15,000 an hour, and a flight from Jakarta to Kalimantan costs Rp 1 million?

Or perhaps that is the point.

READ: Commentary: So much for eradicating corruption in Indonesia

Of more immediate concern is the opportunity cost the move might impose on Jokowis second term. Jokowi risks wasting his political capital and energy on a symbolic project of dubious merit, while forgoing key election and policy issues such as health, education and investment.

Its a similar picture in hard dollar terms. Moving will be an expensive and ongoing fiscal burden, both within and beyond Jokowis term, which will crowd out more important spending priorities.

A worst-case scenario could see large amounts of capital being poured into the move, only to be wasted if the ideaRead More – Source