Indonesia's new national capital will be built on the country's Kalimantan island. Photo: ST FILE

"I just received a direct confirmation from the president on Friday and he said the new capital is named Nusantara," the country's National Development Planning Minister Suharso Monoarfa said during a meeting with the special committee for the new capital city's establishment at the House of Representatives in Central Jakarta, as cited by The Straits Times.

The minister explained the reason for selecting Nusantara was because the name has been well known since a long time ago.

"It is iconic internationally, easy and it describes the archipelago of the Republic of Indonesia," Monoarfa said, adding, "And I think we all agree with the name Nusantara."

According to Coconuts, Suharso said President Jokowi settled on the name from a shortlist, after almost going on a variation that would have included the name Jaya, which means glory.

“There were more than 80 names, but eventually Nusantara was picked without the Jaya,” Suharso said.

He added that the government consulted experts in history, culture, and language before settling on the name.

This aerial picture taken on Jul 31, 2019 by news outlet Tribun Kaltim shows a view of the area around Samboja, Kutai Kartanegara, one of two locations proposed by the government for Indonesia's new capital. Photo: AFP

In 2019, President Joko Widodo announced that the country’s capital would move from megacity Jakarta to the remote regency of Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara in East Kalimantan province.

The move is deemed necessary to save sinking and congested Jakarta and develop Kalimantan as well as the eastern part of Indonesia since most of the economic activity in the country has been centered in Java where the current capital is.

The construction of the 466 trillion rupiah (US$32 billion) new capital project was supposed to start in 2020. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced authorities to put the project on hold.

Discussion about the new capital continued last year and renowned Balinese sculptor Nyoman Nuarta was announced as the designer of the state palace.

Nuarta said in his Instagram account earlier this month that Widodo has approved the final design inspired by the country’s emblem mythological bird Garuda, according to the CNA.

Bloomberg said Indonesia, which has contemplated the idea for decades, would be the third country in Southeast Asia to relocate their capital cities. Next-door neighbor Malaysia moved its administrative capital to Putrajaya in 2003 and Myanmar changed its capital to Naypyidaw in 2006.

The approved final design of the Presidential Palace in the new capital city in East Kalimantan. Photo: Instagram/@nyoman_nuarta

Widodo, known as Jokowi, said the relocation will help spread economic activities outside of the most populous island of Java and narrow its income gap with the rest of the country. Java is home to almost 60% of Indonesia’s population and contributes more than half to its gross domestic product. Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, accounts for 5.8% of the population and makes up 8.2% of the economy.

He deems the move necessary as the current capital of 10 million people is suffering from traffic gridlock, frequent flooding and its pollution is reaching unhealthy levels. Jakarta is also sinking fast, with two-fifths of the area falling below sea level and some parts are submerging at a rate of 20 centimeters a year.

Environmental groups have raised concern about the potential damage to Kalimantan’s rainforests. Borneo, home to endangered species such as the orangutan, has lost 30% of its forests in a little over four decades, much of it to the paper and pulp industry and palm oil plantations.

Under the plan, state institution headquarters will be moved in stages in a process that may take two to four years, except for the central bank and the Financial Services Authority’s main offices, which will stay in Jakarta as the financial and commercial hub. Just a fifth of the cost is intended to come from the state budget, with the rest coming from private funding./.

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