Indonesia’s new multi-billion-pound purpose-built capital city has been thrown into chaos – just days before it hosts an Independence Day celebration.
Nusantara, which is set to become Indonesia’s future capital city once it is complete, is set to be officially opened tomorrow, as part of the August 17 festivities. However, the government has been forced to scale back on its ambitious grand ceremony plans.
Experts have long raised concerns over the new city, which has been under construction in the Borneo jungle since 2022.
Nusantara is the pet project of the outgoing President Joko Widodo, who wants to move the capital from Jakarta.
In the latest setback, Indonesia has been forced to withdraw invitations from foreign diplomats and cut its guest list from 8,000 to 1,300 just days before the event.
President Widodo explained the embarrassing setback: “The accommodation was not enough, as well as food, since the ecosystem has yet to be built here.”
Earlier this month, Indonesia sent a letter to foreign diplomats cancelling their invitation to the new capital.
The letter, as seen by the FT, read: “The previous arrangements made for the ceremony to be attended by heads of missions in the capital city of Nusantara are no longer in place.”
There are growing doubts over the future of the pet project, as President Widodo begins to hand power over Southeast Asia’s biggest economy to his successor Prabowo Subianto in October.
There are reports that Mr Subianto’s team was looking to cut Nusantara’s ballooning budget, which stands at £23 billion so far, to help finance his pledge of providing free meals to schoolchildren and pregnant women.
Nusantara’s development has been regularly marred by construction delays, while concerns ramped up in June after the surprise resignation of the project’s top management team.
The new capital, which lies more than 1,200km away from Jakarta, struggled to put a reliable supply of drinking water and electricity in place. An airport, which was meant to be ready by Independence Day, also remains unfinished.
President Widodo has said that Indonesian government operations will move in phases to Nusantara, which is scheduled to be fully completed by 2045.
Thousands of civil servants are set to begin relocating in September. One official told the FT the morale among those moving there is low, pointing to the lack of infrastructure and high costs of travel back to Jakarta.
Indonesia’s current capital, home to at least 11 million residents, is the world’s fastest-sinking city as well as one of its most polluted.
Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency has also warned that by 2050, about 25 percent of the city could be submerged.
