By: Queen Shandy Aenun)*
The relocation of the National Capital City (IKN) is one of the government’s big intentions that has been carefully planned. IKN development is also believed to be a generator of Indonesia’s economic growth.
Budi Gunawan as Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) said that the construction of an IKN called Nusantara in North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, is a new economic growth magnet that can contribute nationally.
Budi said the transfer of IKN to the province of East Kalimantan has the potential to stimulate more equitable economic growth outside Java. To realize these goals, inter-regional connectivity and strong inter-sectoral linkages are needed.
The transfer of IKN is also viewed from a defense and security perspective. Here, IKN will become a symbol of potential state sovereignty against threats. Budi said it was an important note that the de facto conquest of a country was marked by success in occupying strategic facilities including the capital city of the country as a symbol of the collapse of the country’s system. The separation of the national capital from other cities will minimize the threat to the state.
Advisory Council of the Sultan of Kutai Kartanegara Ing Martadipura H Adji Pangeran Haryo Kesumo Poeger said the people in his area fully support the program that has been carried out by the government. This is because the transfer of IKN is believed to be able to bring about changes from an economic and social perspective. Adji said that the Kuta Kartanegara Sultanate had no problem with the IKN development because this IKN was also for East Kalimantan.
For information, the National Capital City (IKN) plan has been initiated by the government since 2019. The choice of East Kalimantan as an IKN of course has considerations, namely its enormous potential as a national development capital to its very strategic location.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia) has ratified the Draft Law on the National Capital City (RUU IKN) into law, the IKN Bill was agreed upon in the second level decision making at the plenary meeting of the DPR RI.
Therefore, as a generator of national economic growth, East Kalimantan is considered capable of strengthening the national security control system. This also causes IKN to be predicted to become one of the influential cities.
Economic observer from the University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Achmad Ma’ruf, said that the transfer of IKN has multidimensional aspects for economic equality, geopolitics and national security, as well as security from natural disasters.
Ma’ruf said that we must think for the entire archipelago. Indonesia includes Kalimantan and Papua as well. Many people do not understand the insight of the archipelago, their minds are not clear, they make useless criticisms such as creating divisions.
Of course, building a new capital city in an underdeveloped area is more important than corrupted state funds such as Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI).
The transfer of IKN provides sustenance to local residents who have been in short supply. Now, the roads around the core area of the IKN government center are smooth. Their travel time to other big cities, such as Balikpapan, becomes shorter. Especially if the road through to IKN is via the Balang island bridge.
We also need to know that the discourse of moving the capital city emerged also based on the current burden on the island of Java which bears the burden and the dense population. In 2017 the total population on the island of Java represented 60 percent of the total population of Indonesia, the rest was divided into islands outside Java.
University of Indonesia (UI) Urban Sociologist Paul Wirutomo said, if a city is approaching density points that are already very dangerous for people’s lives, then it is better to find a way to spread it so that a city can re-develop. According to him, the most effective population distribution strategy is relocating the capital city.
This shows that relocating the State Capital is one of the strategies to develop the national economic sector and not only centralized on the island of Java.
An economic growth generator is of course needed for the sake of improving the national economy, one of the generators that need to be built is the construction of a capital city in an area that has been selected by the government through various studies and studies.
)* The author is a contributor to Pertiwi Institute
