Indonesia unveils site of new capital on Borneo island

By Agustinus Beo Da Costa 

JAKARTA - Indonesia on Monday revealed the long-awaited site for its new $33-billion capital on the forested island of Borneo to replace the crowded, polluted megacity of Jakarta, which is slowly sinking into the sea.

The capital of the world’s fourth most populous country, on the island of Java, is now home to 10 million people and is prone to floods, traffic gridlock and faces the risk of earthquakes.

[...]

The site of the new capital, 2,000 km (1,250 miles) northeast of Jakarta, is one of the regions least prone to the natural disasters that regularly hit the archipelago of 17,000 islands.

[...]

“The move will have an environmental impact,” said Greenpeace senior forest campaigner Jasmine Puteri. “Jakarta has suffered so many failures from pollution, water crisis, and flooding. We don’t want these problems in the new capital.”

[...]