Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo is urgently trying to reassure investors and bureaucrats about his $32 billion new capital city project in Borneo, following the resignation of two key officials, which has cast new doubts on its future. President Joko Widodo announced that he will begin working from an office in Nusantara, a massive construction site over 1,200 km (750 miles) from Jakarta, next month. However, analysts believe this move is unlikely to calm concerns regarding the project.
“Investor confidence has dropped, I think. They were already in doubt and in ‘wait-and-see’ mode, partly because of the unclear land status, partly because of a lack of transparency in governance of the new capital,” said Yanuar Nugroho, the president’s former deputy chief of staff. “The resignations worsen this… instead of explaining what really happened, the government is trying to cover it up,” he added, describing the president as being in damage control mode.
Just a day after the two respected technocrats in charge resigned without explanation, the president traveled to Nusantara, where he initiated construction on schools and office complexes, promising that foreign investment was forthcoming. However, despite the president announcing this signature project years ago, which aimed to alleviate the burdens on the traffic-congested, polluted, sinking, and over-populated Jakarta, no foreign funding has been committed.
A presidential spokesperson referred questions regarding doubts about Nusantara’s future to previous comments of President Joko Widodo , stating that the project will continue as planned. His legacy project faces numerous challenges, including land issues, water supply problems, the threat of tropical diseases like malaria, and widespread reluctance among civil servants to relocate.
