Orange-red ground has been broken in the jungle of East Borneo, where the Indonesian government has begun construction of its new capital city, South China Morning Post reported.
Officials promise a “sustainable forest city” that puts the environment at the heart of development and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2045. But the project has been plagued by criticism from environmentalists and Indigenous communities, who say it degrades the environment, further shrinks the habitat of endangered animals such as orangutans and displaces Indigenous people that rely on the land for their livelihoods.
The government has said it's working to be considerate of the environment. Signs of a more-conscious approach to construction are visible: patches of trees remain fenced-off to protect them from machinery, a plant nursery has already started for the replanting process officials promise and industrial forest surrounds the site.
Indonesia began construction of the new capital in mid-2022, after President Joko Widodo announced that Jakarta – the congested, polluted current capital that is prone to earthquakes and rapidly sinking into the Java Sea – would be retired from capital status.
