Indonesia to Move Capital From Jakarta to East Kalimantan

Indonesia President Joko Widodo, center, takes his seat as his deputy Jusuf Kalla, right, and Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, left, looks on before a press conference, at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. Photo: Achmad Ibrahim / AP
Indonesia President Joko Widodo, center, takes his seat as his deputy Jusuf Kalla, right, and Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, left, looks on before a press conference, at the palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. Photo: Achmad Ibrahim / AP

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesia’s president has announced that the country’s capital will be moved from overcrowded, sinking and polluted Jakarta to East Kalimantan province.

President Joko Widodo told a news conference Monday the decision to choose the province on the Indonesian side of Borneo island, which is shared with Malaysia and Brunei, has gone through in-depth studies.

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He said the most ideal site for the new capital will be between Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara districts.

Indonesia’s decades-long discussion about building a new capital on Borneo inched forward in April when Widodo approved a plan for it to move from Jakarta on Java island, the nation’s most populous.

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Jakarta is a sprawling metropolis of 10 million people that swells to three times that number when counting those living in its greater metropolitan area.