New Capital City to be Managed by an Authority

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The new capital city will be prepared, built and managed by an authority that will report directly to the President. The public’s input is needed for this plan.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government plans to establish an authority that will be tasked with preparing, developing and managing the new capital city in East Kalimantan. Various matters related to the authority will be stipulated in a draft law concerning the new capital city.

The government will submit a number of draft laws needed for the relocation of the national capital to the House of Representatives (DPR) by the end of this year. Thus, it is expected that the deliberation of the legal basis for the relocation of the capital city from Jakarta can be completed by 2020.
The House plans to start the deliberation of the draft laws related to the capital city relocation after the inauguration of House members for the 2019-2024 period in October 2019. Before kicking off the deliberation of a number of bills, the House will first review various aspects related to the relocation of the capital city. To support this, the House has formed a technical study team for the location of the capital city. The team is under the supervision of the House’s Expertise Board.
Land speculators have begun their activities. Many people have begun asking about the availability of land in areas bordering Kutai Kartanegara regency and North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalimantan. The land price has also begun to increase.
The price of land in the area has exceeded Rp 100 million per hectare from Rp 35 million per hectare previously. This raises concerns about the deprivation of rights of others or the circulation of fake land documents in the area. However, as of now the local government has yet to issue any guidelines on dealing with this.
Study
The head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Bambang Brodjonegoro, said during a visit to the office of Kompas daily in Jakarta on Wednesday that the draft laws on the relocation of the national capital would also stipulate the establishment of an authority that will be directly under the supervision of the President.
KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI
Workers make progress building the Balikpapan-Samarinda toll road at the 13th kilometer on Jl. Soekarno-Hatta, Balikpapan city, East Kalimantan, on Wednesday (28/8/2019). The construction of this toll road is targeted for completion in 2019.
The authority agency is not only responsible for the development preparations but also the management of the new capital city. Referring to a Bappenas study, the agency will be also tasked with managing investment funds for the construction of the new capital city and establishing cooperation with state-owned and private companies through a government-business entity partnership scheme (KPBU).
The authority also has the task to manage investment assets in the new capital and lease these assets to government agencies and other parties. "For the KPBU, the person responsible for the cooperation representing the government is just one, namely the authority," Bambang explained.
Meanwhile, the House’s deputy speaker representing the Gerindra faction, Fadli Zon, said that relocation preparation required a thorough study. "This is not as simple as moving a house or one or two properties, but it is about moving the entire collective memory of this nation," he said.
Currently, the results of the technical studies from the government, which have been submitted to the newly elected House members, are still in form of highlights or summaries. "We have not seen the complete road map because we received [information] only in the form of a simple PowerPoint," said Fadli.
Related to this, West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said the advice from the public must be listened to so that the relocation of the capital city will be successful. "I want this extraordinary aspiration to succeed, because the capital city of Brazil, Brasilia, after 50 years, is still considered an unsuccessful capital by Harvard University. I just remind that we need to have better planning. The advice from the people must also be accepted," he said.
KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI
An expanse of industrial forest is managed by PT ICI Hutani Manunggal in Sepaku district, North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalimantan, on Wednesday (28/8/2019). The border between Kutai Kertenagara regency in Samboja district and North Penajam Paser in Sepaku district was designated by President Joko Widodo as the location of the new capital.
Public policy observer Agus Pambagio revealed that there were a number of things that still needed to be explained in more detail to the public regarding the planned relocation of the national capital. For example, there was the issue of preventing corruption in financing the construction of the new capital, which is estimated to cost Rp 466 trillion.
"According to some data, corruption can reach 30 percent. That could become a problem for the House, the government and businesspeople," he said.
The secretary-general of the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), Rukka Sombolinggi, is worried that most of the funding for the construction of the national capital will be from the private sector. "This is the national capital, and it must be financed with the state budget," he said.
Direction
Meanwhile, the head of Sepaku district in North Penajam Paser regency, Risman Abdul, appealed to the village heads not to process the sales of land until there was a special instruction from the governor or regent. "The village head has received many questions about the availability of land and land prices," said Risman.
Land in Sepaku is sought after because the area is believed to be where much of the new national capital will be situated.
The head of the legal bureau of the East Kalimantan provincial administration, Suroto, said that his party had not yet held a meeting to secure the land. "Later we will coordinate with BPN (National Land Agency) regional authorities," he said.
KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI
The damaged Samboja-Sepaku road is being repaired in North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalijantan, on Wednesday (28/8/2019). The border between Kutai Kertenagara regency in Samboja district and North Penajam Paser regency in Sepaku district was designated by President Joko Widodo as the location of the new capital.
According to Suroto, he will only coordinate with the central government regarding what legal instruments need to be prepared by the regional government. (LAS/ REK/ NTA/AGE/ DVD/ISW/BRO/CIP)

Editor:
naranasrullah

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