By h: Bimo Ariyan Beeran )*
The development of the Archipelago Capital City (IKN) is not only about living in a new place, but also about the environment. Moreover, IKN will be built into a smart, sustainable and concept city modern city.
It should be noted that a feasibility study has been carried out since 2018-2019, until nationally IKN has received legal support with the passing of Law Number 3 of 2022 concerning the State Capital.
The IKN authoritarian party has held an Amdal Study (Environmental Impact Analysis) through public consultation with the theme “planned development activities for integrated areas and other facilities.
The Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK) Siti Nurbaya Bakar has ensured that the IKN Nusantara development project will refer to environmental aspects.
Therefore he claims that IKN can have a positive impact on environmental issues. Including carbon matters. On the other hand, before the existence of the IKN, the Etam Continent was already a province that would benefit from carbon trading.
On the occasion of a scientific oration at the Mulawarman University Open Senate Meeting, Siti said that the issues and efforts to increase global temperature
Therefore, the construction of the Mentawir Nursery in Penajam Paser Utara has been carried out on a 120 hectare land with the main facility being a nursery covering an area of 22-23 hectares to produce 15 million seedlings per year. Millions of rods are expected to become a carbon storage commodity.
Siti added, how can natural tropical rainforests in East Kalimantan become more numerous through the monoculture of industrial and ex-mining plantation forests. Of course, this is due to scientific innovation and the role of academics. Next is the matter of genetic resources, the national germplasm that must be built.
He said, if it is related to natural resources, the answer is in the academic environment of the campus, especially in efforts to support IKN . Moreover, Unmul is predicted to be the cornerstone of the campus in the new capital city.
Siti also explained about the IKN forest city concept. According to him, the IKN forest city will harmoniously balance natural ecology, forest areas and social systems.
He explained that the concept of a forest city is a landscape-based city that places forest ecosystems as forming urban spatial structures, the orientation of urban community life and helping to facilitate interaction between urban activities.
The IKN landscape is an industrial forest surrounded by production, conservation and protected forest areas. The existence of IKN is also claimed to return East Kalimantan’s forests to green again, especially in the IKN area.
According to Siti Nurbaya, environmental and forestry development not only has an important role to prevent various threats of disasters and catastrophes, but also supports the achievement of national development goals. Namely protecting all of Indonesia’s bloodshed, promoting public welfare and educating the nation’s life and maintaining world peace.
The discourse on moving the National Capital was certainly not yesterday afternoon’s idea nor was it an impromptu plan. The first president of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. Soekarno, had previously put forward this idea and a study had been carried out by Bappenas regarding the impact of moving the National Capital.
The relocation of the National Capital also promotes equitable distribution of development, starting with the planning and implementation of its development which will have an extraordinary positive economic impact on the nation through investment and trade channels which will contribute to growth in the region.
The transfer of IKN is also proof that the government is currently trying to develop the country in an Indonesia-centric manner.
Meanwhile, Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Budi Gunawan said that the construction of an IKN named Nusantara in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, is a new economic growth magnet that can contribute nationally.
He said that the transfer of IKN to the province of East Kalimantan has the potential to stimulate economic growth which is more evenly distributed outside of Java Island. To realize these ideals, connectivity between regions and strong linkages between sectors is needed.
Budi said, it is an important note that the de facto conquest of a country is marked by success in occupying strategic facilities including the country’s capital as a symbol of the collapse of the state system. Separating the national capital from other cities will minimize the threat to the state.
On the other hand, Indonesian President Joko Widodo also wants to ensure that forest rehabilitation in the IKN area can proceed according to plan, starting from preparing the tree seedlings to be planted. IKN will be built with the concept of a forest city or city in the middle of a forest.
It should be noted that tree seedlings are currently being sown and will later be sent to IKN to be planted in critical lands.
In its construction, IKN not only carries a modern concept, but also does not forget the natural conditions it will occupy. In fact, the government has seriously studied it so that IKN will not only become a city in the forest, but also a capital city that is healthy and cares about environmental conditions.
)* The author is a contributor to Nusantara Reading Room