Indonesia president begins working from new capital despite construction delays

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has begun working from the presidential palace in the country’s ambitious new administrative capital, the flagship project of his two terms in office but which has been plagued by delays.

The capital is due to move from traffic-clogged and sinking Jakarta to the planned city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan province on Borneo, but the $33bn project announced in 2019 is months – even years – behind schedule.

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“I couldn’t sleep well … maybe because it was my first time,” Jokowi, as the president is known, told reporters after his first night in the palace on Monday. The palace is 90% complete and Jokowi said that thousands of workers were still on site.

“They still clean and furnish it. Everything is in good progress,” he said. “There’s no problem with the water and electricity … The internet also works well.” It was not clear how long he planned to work there.

Nusantara is scheduled to hold its first ever Indonesia Independence Day celebration on 17 August, which is also expected to be the official transfer of the capital city from Jakarta, about 1,200 km (750 miles) away.

Its relocation plan has come into question, however, amid slow construction progress and missed deadlines, forcing the resignations of the head of the Nusantara Capital Authority and his deputy last month.

Most of the new city’s buildings are unfinished, with several ministry buildings only with their lower floors usable. Delays have also affected plans to relocate 12,000 civil servants to Nusantara starting from July. Administrative and bureaucratic reform minister Abdullah Azwar Anas has said the relocation timeline will be adjusted according to “infrastructure readiness”.

Earlier this month Jokowi said Nusantara would be about 15% complete by Independence Day, but the whole city is not expected to be complete until 2045.

Widodo’s administration has relied heavily on private investment to build the city, with the state only shouldering 20% of the cost, mainly covering the construction of basic infrastructure, buildings, and utilities within the “core area” of the government.

In a bid to lure investment, earlier this month Widodo signed a presidential regulation that grants investors certain rights, including land rights of up to 190 years in the future capital.

Public works and housing minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the government was still working to procure another 40 megawatts to power the city, but the current capacity of 10 megawatts produced by a solar power plant has been established in Nusantara.

A nearby reservoir provides “more than enough to meet the needs” for clean drinking water in the new city, he said.

Despite the progress made, questions still remain as to when the new capital will officially be relocated as Widodo is yet to issue the official decree. Until the decree is signed, Jakarta remains the country’s capital.

Widodo has signalled that the decree might be issued by president-elect Prabowo Subianto , who will be inaugurated on 20 October.

The delay in formalising the decree has raised questions about the location of the presidential inauguration, as in accordance with the Indonesian constitution, the swearing into office must take place in the nation’s capital.

The lack of investors in the megaproject also puts Prabowo in a difficult position once he is sworn in. Promising continuity as his campaign platform during the presidential election, Prabowo has pledged to resume Widodo’s landmark projects, including Nusantara.

Sulfikar Amir, an associate professor of science, technology, and society at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, has questioned the speed at which the ambitious project has been implemented, saying the rush has significantly affected the project’s financing and planning.

“Who wants to work in the middle of the forest with [a] lack of infrastructure?” he said.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report