The capital city of Indonesia will be moved to Kalimantan and this move is a positive thing, because it will absorb productive workers. There will be a lot of job vacancies thanks to the massive construction there. People will be helped because they get new jobs.
When the capital city of Indonesia was about to be moved from DKI Jakarta to Kutai Kartanegara and North Penajam Paser, Kalimantan, some people were shocked. This is because moving the capital city is something very new in Indonesia. Even though in the Bung Karno era, there had been talk of moving the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan, the aim was to be in the middle of Indonesia.
President Jokowi’s move to the nation’s capital should not surprise the public. The reason is because IKN will have a positive impact, namely equitable development and creating employment opportunities. Especially in the post-pandemic period, where there are still residents who are looking for work because they are victims of layoffs.
Dewi Risnawati, Lecturer at FISIP Unmul Samarinda, stated that the transfer of the national capital (IKN) was a transfer of governance from Jakarta to East Kalimantan, as an effort to equalize development and the economy. Efforts are made to distribute this development evenly to all regions in Indonesia, where previously development was focused on Java or Java centric, it has been changed to become Indonesia centric.
Dewi continued, she strongly supports the transfer of IKN to East Kalimantan. The positive impact of moving the IKN to East Kalimantan is very broad, including opening up many job opportunities for the younger generation and business opportunities for the people of East Kalimantan.
In a sense, IKN Nusantara is supported by all groups, including academics. The reason is because when the capital city is moved to Kalimantan it will have an impact on equitable development. The people of Kalimantan will enjoy very adequate infrastructure that can be used for decades to come.
The development of IKN is an effort to equalize development. When the capital city is in Kalimantan, buildings, bridges and other infrastructure will be built. The people of Kalimantan will feel the good facilities. If there are good and smooth roads, shipping goods between regions can run smoothly and save time, so shipping costs can also go down.
When the infrastructure in Kalimantan is good, the port and roads are good, the economy will grow faster. Because the logistics distribution for people and finished goods increases. The effect is, there will be no more poverty there, because everyone is already prosperous. Papua is no longer a neglected area, because it is always taken into account.
In addition, relocating the capital city will make Kalimantan even better. When the capital city is there, more representative schools, courses, etc. will be built. Children will have better access to education, and there is not much difference between the intelligence of students in Java and Kalimantan.
Likewise with the construction of the Sepaku Dam. In addition to irrigation and preventing flooding in the IKN, this infrastructure is a tourist destination. The existence of this beautiful dam can attract local and foreign tourists. This can benefit the people of Kalimantan because it will increase tourist visits to Kalimantan.
IKN Nusantara will also open jobs in Kalimantan. The construction of a new state capital is one of Indonesia’s economic recovery strategies. It will also absorb a large workforce.
During construction in the first year, it will absorb 100,000 workers. While BPS predictions,relocating the national capital will absorb around millions of workers. In a sense, this is very good because during the pandemic, there were many unemployed people.
When there is a vacancy in Kalimantan, it will be very good, because applicants will flock there. If the number of native Kalimantan workers is still lacking, employees from other areas can be added. So that it will reduce the number of unemployed not only in Kalimantan, but also in East Nusa Tenggara, Java, Sumatra, etc.
The number of workers needed is not only for drivers and unskilled laborers, but also in other sectors such as planners, architects, project designers, interior designers, etc. Later there will be more and more local people who excel and are drawn to handle the project to move the national capital and work for Indonesia.
It is clear that the project to relocate the national capital will have a positive impact, because it can reduce unemployment in Indonesia. So that one problem will be solved, namely the threat of poverty. Due to the fact, there are many new unemployed due to the effects of the pandemic, and when they are able to work, they will have a steady income and their standard of living will increase.
IKN Nusantara encourages equitable development and at the same time opens employment opportunities. With the IKN project, development will be evenly distributed, not only in Java but also in Kalimantan. Then, employment opportunities also increase because IKN projects require up to thousands of workers to complete them.
)* The author is a contributor to Vimedia Pratama Institute
