Jakarta Indonesia January 19 ANI Indonesia replaced Jakarta's sinking capital with Nusantara, as Jakarta is prone to flooding due to climate change.
The lawmakers approved the move from Jakarta to Kalimantan, a jungle-covered area on the east of Borneo island. The Indonesian language has a new name that translates to the archipelago.
Concerns over the sustainability of the congested and rapidly sinking political centre of Jakarta prompted the need for new capital, and the House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday regarding the relocation.
The relocation of the capital city to Kalimantan is based on several considerations, including regional advantages and welfare. Suharso Monoarfa, the country's Minister for National Development Planning, told Indonesia Parliament TV that the country's Minister for National Development Planning had the vision of the birth of a new economic centre of gravity in the middle of the archipelago.
President Joko Widodo announced that the capital would be relocated in 2019 due to concerns over Jakarta's environmental and economic sustainability.
Jakarta is located on the swampy ground near the sea, making it particularly susceptible to flooding and is one of the fastest-sinking cities on Earth, according to the World Economic Forum. The former capital has been dropping into the Java Sea at an alarming rate due to the over-extraction of groundwater.
It is one of the most overpopulated urban areas in the world. It is home to more than 10 million people, with an estimated 30 million in the greater metropolitan area, according to the United Nations.
The bill to relocate the capital was passed by eight fractions and only one fraction rejecting it, according to the chairman of Indonesia's House of Representatives Puan Maharani. Indonesia's Parliament comprises nine groups of political parties known as fractions, according to CNN.
Legislators stressed the importance of careful consideration of the new development's environmental impact. According to data from the National Planning and Development Agency, the total area for the new capital city will be around 256,143 hectares or 2,561 square kilometres - almost all of it is converted from the forest area.
Indonesia owns the majority of Borneo, the world's third largest island, with Malaysia and Brunei each holding parts of its northern region.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Indonesia's Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani said there will be five stages of development in the new capital city.
The first stage is anticipated to start in 2022 and run through 2024, with development expected to last until 2045, according to Monoarfa.