Salam Ganesha Academy collaborated with ITB Alumni’s Association in holding the thematic webinar with the topic of “The Construction of Indonesia’s Capital to Actualize Golden Indonesia 2045” on Saturday, 26th March 2022.

In line with the topic, the webinar featured alumni speakers involved with the planning and development of the project such as Rudy Prawiradinata (Civil Engineering ’81 and Ministry of National Development Planning’s representative), Dr. Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga (Civil Engineering ’85, The Head of New Capital Development Task Force), Dr. Wicaksono Sarosa (Architecture ’78, Director of Time and Space Knowledge Hub for Sustainability Urban Development), Bambang Susantono (Head Authority of the National Capital), and Dr. Phil. Hendricus Andy Simarmata (Planology ’01, Chairman of Indonesian Urban and Regional Planners).

Rudy stated that with this relocation of the capital city, the government intends to restore forest functions alongside public housing, which currently stands at 40% functionality. On the other hand, Kalimantan guarantees greater safety for the capital’s survivability in terms of geological disaster risk, evaluated from the Ring of Fire map. “Certainly, this is good news to share,“ told Rudy.

From economic standpoints, the government targets economic growth in East Kalimantan by thirty-four times. This is realized through improvement of all infrastructure which will sustain the model of forest-based futuristic city.

Danis conveyed that the Capital’s construction will be performed gradually. In particular, within the period of 2020-2024 basic infrastructural construction will be executed such as water sources, logistical access, transportation access, waste management, and many others.

Even so, the great news must consider all aspects relating to the sustainability of the current capital city. “I do support the relocation. However, the issues culminating in Jakarta shouldn’t be one of the reasons, Jakarta must be regenerated as well,” asserted Wicaksono as an expert of planology.

Hopefully, the relocation will not jeopardize any parties. The transformation from javacentric to indonesiacentric is expected to empower growth. This is considerably a wise step, as each 1% of urbanization growth implicates 4% growth of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

The new capital’s construction hopefully will be a fully collaborative effort. The government is also expected to remain transparent, not only about the potential benefits of relocation but also its emerging risks, therefore maintaining public trust. “It isn’t about moving Jakarta to Kalimantan; it’s about connecting the two synergistically,” concluded Hendricus Andy Simarmata.

Reporter: Lukman Ali (Mechanical Engineering, 2020)
Translator: Firzana Aisya (School of Life Sciences and Technoloy, 2021)

Photo Source: Suara Merdeka