Indonesia’s new capital risks becoming ‘white elephant’

Satya Adhi
The writer is AFP's video journalist for Indonesia and East Timor
A year after it was inaugurated, Indonesia's would-be new capital Nusantara, attracts tourists and construction workers, but most of its architecturally arresting presidential palace and freshly built avenues sit silent.
The legacy project of former president Joko Widodo is battling a slashed budget, slowed construction and a deficit of interest from a new leader focused on social mega-projects.
That has raised questions about whether the city, carved out of the jungle to replace crowded and rapidly sinking Jakarta, will ever see its promised potential.
'The political will on IKN right now feels muted,' said Dedi Dinarto, senior associate at public policy advisory firm Global Counsel, referring to the new capital's official name: Ibu Kota Nusantara.
President Prabowo Subianto 'is clearly putting his chips on welfare instead'.
Just over 1,000 city authority employees live in Nusantara, along with a few hundred more ministry workers and service and medical employees.
That's far short of Jakarta's 12 million residents, and the new city's goal of two million inhabitants by 2045.
Prabowo mentioned IKN just once in his first state of the nation speech, and has slashed funding for the project.
Official budgets show a cut from $2.66 billion in 2024 to just 6.3 trillion rupiah in 2026. The authority had requested more than 21 trillion rupiah for 2026's budget.
Significant foreign funding has also proved elusive despite overtures to allies in the Middle East and Asia.
'Prabowo feels that this is not his legacy. It's not his big push and he has more programmes that he wants to push,' an official involved in the city's construction said on condition of anonymity.
'I'm still 50-50 on it (being finished),' the official added, saying the budget cuts mean 'a lot of things will not be completed'.

The former president, known popularly as Jokowi, revived the long-proposed capital move when he won a second term in 2019.
But despite a rush to build, the city was not inaugurated as Indonesia's new capital on August 17 last year as expected.
'In Joko Widodo's time, it was very fast-moving, now in Prabowo's time... it's not as fast,' said Sofian Sibarani, the city's designer.
Just 800 of the planned 6,600 hectares of the core government area have been developed on or prepared for construction, he said.
Nusantara officials are undeterred and tout the city as Indonesia's future power centre.
City authority head Basuki Hadimuljono said that projects in a smaller executive area housing the palace and ministries in the government core were 'already 97-98 per cent' complete.
He claimed Prabowo wants to move in 2028 before the next presidential election, once the legislative and judicial areas are finished.
As president-elect, Prabowo said he wanted to 'continue, if possible, finish' the capital move, but since taking office, he has yet to express any plans to sign the presidential decree needed to shift from Jakarta.
'It would be signed after the legislative and judicial areas are completed' in 2028, said Basuki.
Some government employees have expressed reservations about moving to an unfinished jungle city, located around 1,200 kilometres from Jakarta.
But city employee Helena, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, insisted her unfinished tower block offers 'an amazing level of comfort'.
— AFP