Foreign Correspondent: Mar 7

Foreign Correspondent this week looks at Indonesia’s grand plan to move its capital from Jakarta to a new location in Borneo.

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta has been described as unlivable, choked with traffic and smog. It’s one of the worst capital cities in the world for air pollution and it’s also sinking. By 2050 it’s estimated around a quarter of the city will be submerged. In 2019 President Joko Widodo embarked on a radical plan to move the mega city. The site he chose was more than a thousand kilometers away, deep in the jungle of Borneo.

This week on Foreign Correspondent Indonesia correspondent travels to the location of the new capital in East Kalimantan on Borneo Island. In the middle of the jungle lies the construction site of a new city which promises to be clean, green and sustainable. But the utopian vision comes with a high price tag – a staggering $US45 billion. Critics say the project is a white elephant and a waste of the country’s limited resources. Completion of the project is now up to the new incoming president who says he’s supporting the expensive relocation. . . for now.

Thursday 7 March at 8pm on ABC