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Softbank CEO, Tony Blair, and the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince will help build Indonesia's new capital

Capitol of Capital

Softbank CEO, Tony Blair, and the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince will help build Indonesia's new capital

As Indonesia gears up to move its governing affairs from Jakarta to Borneo Island, the country has called on three wealthy world leaders for help. (Tom Fisk/Pexels)

Indonesia is building a new $34 billion capital city that will be steered by none other than Softbank CEO and WeWork financier Masayoshi Son, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Abu Dhabi Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. 

Bloomberg reported that the three will be part of a committee to conceive of and oversee construction of a new capital in the province of East Kalimantan on Borneo Island, the third-largest island in the world at 287,000 square miles. Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in August that he aimed to move the government and as many as 7 million people there beginning in 2024 to a new city spanning 632,500 acres—four times the size of Jakarta. Construction is anticipated to begin later this year with office space and homes for 1.5 million civic workers.

According to Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, the oversight committee, including Son, Blair, and the Crown Prince, among others, is meant to help boost investment for the new project and encourage other entities to give. President Widodo wants private and state-owned groups to fund 80 percent of the build, noted Bloomberg. Softbank has already committed $40 billion while companies across Abu Dhabi have given up to $22.8 billion.

The rush to ditch Jakarta comes after years of overcrowding; the interior city holds 10 million people while the total metropolitan area boasts nearly 30 million people. Costly effects due to climate change have also wreaked havoc on the capital city, forcing the country to rethink its plans. It’s no secret that the city, located on the northwest coast of Java, the world’s most populated island, is sinking into the sea at a rate of 6.7 inches per year. 

Flooding has become a regular issue as well. In early January, Jakarta experienced the most intense period of rainfall in the city’s history. Flash flooding forced tens of thousands of locals to evacuate, displacing most, and left 66 people dead. Residents are now taking steps to sue the city’s governor. Set at a higher elevation just north of Java, Borneo Island doesn’t see these types of natural disasters as commonly. East Kalimantan, for example, is a more heavily forested area and suffers from heavy rain or dry seasons as well as monsoon winds. 

Government officials argue that the move isn’t just about Jakarta’s physical state, but about its economic situation as well. Congestion alone costs Indonesia an estimated $6.5 billion per year, according to Al Jazeera, which has further stymied the nation’s growth.

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