By: Abner Wanggai ) *
The national capital is indeed a very important area for a country, because in it there are various important elements of the country. This of course makes a country must choose an area that is considered ideal to be used as the nation’s capital. The relocation of the National Capital to the island of Kalimantan is also considered appropriate because it is considered capable of increasing the distribution of development outside Java.
The city of Jakarta is considered to have a burden that is too heavy, especially since the area has become a business center so that it is commonly found tall buildings and buildings that turned out to have an impact on land subsidence, so that flooding becomes an annual problem that never ends.
Moreover, the main purpose of people migrating to Jakarta is to do business / get a job with a decent income. As a result this makes Jakarta very crowded, this is evidenced by traffic jams every day.
The Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta also did not remain silent on the problem of congestion, programs like ganji-even and three-in-one were also applied, but still the program only worked temporarily because the quantity of vehicles continued to increase.
Likewise with the efforts of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government in tackling floods, cleaning up rivers, evicting residents who live on riverbanks, up to normalization efforts, apparently did not show a significant impact, even the floods were at the height of an adult’s chest.
These 2 things, certainly become a predisposition for the reason why the government is boiling the concept of moving the State Capital. Moral support from the community is clearly needed, especially when people realize that Jakarta has become a ‘crowded’ city with very high mobility.
University of Indonesia (UI) Urban Sociology expert Paulu Wirutomo said, if a city is approaching points that are very dangerous to people’s lives, then it is better to find a way to spread it so that a city can develop again. The most effective population distribution strategy according to him is by relocating the capital city.
In a seminar at ITE, Dr. Ir Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga Meng Sc, said that there were many reasons in favor of the capital, one of which was mega-urbanization. In principle, urbanization can be beneficial if it is responded well and carefully. But if not, then it will bring big losses.
Danis also said, in 2045 there will be 70 percent of the world’s population residing in the City. He projects, the largest population concentration will remain in Java. The concentration that has accumulated in Java as a result of urbanization has even long caused environmental issues related to the carrying capacity of water and land.
Responding to all the problems in Indonesia, a strategy was made to improve the distribution of development. One of them is by electing the capital.
Danis also dismissed the notion of Jakarta’s neglect issue if later IKN moved to East Kalimantan. He said, instead we fix it not leaving it.
We all know that in spite of the problem of traffic jams and flooding, Jakarta seems to be surrounded by complex problems. Even in 2017, Jakarta was ranked 9th as the most populous city in the world.
Isran Noor as the Governor of East Kalimantan said, the positive impact of moving the capital city will not only be felt by East Kalimantan alone. But the growth of the economic sector will also be felt by neighboring regions because of its proximity.
Isran said, central and eastern Kalimantan will also feel the positive impact of the relocation of the capital city. Because, the material to build a government complex will definitely be imported from the nearest area.
He also ensured that East Kalimantan was ready to become the center of Indonesian government to replace DKI Jakarta. S ecara he firmly said there was no other choice but to be ready.
Support for the relocation of the capital was also stated by the Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo, he said, in many developed countries, the center of government was not mixed with industry . In America, New York is a very dense area, therefore Washington is the capital.
He said, if the national capital was mixed with industrial estates, it would be like Jakarta as a trading place. It would be nice if the industrial and administrative areas were separated.
The relocation of the National Capital is a necessity, especially with the many driving factors in Jakarta which is the reason for the government to conceptualize the plan to relocate the capital city to East Kalimantan.
) * The writer is a Papuan student living in Yogyakarta