Indonesia holds scaled-down Independence Day ceremony in troubled new capital Reuters
Written by Willy Kurniawan
NUSANTARA, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesia celebrated its independence anniversary in its new capital, Nusantara, for the first time on Saturday, in a groundbreaking ceremony as the city under construction was plagued by problems and setbacks. delay.
A legacy project of outgoing President Joko Widodo, Nusntara has experienced construction delays and funding shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a lack of foreign investment, and most recently, the resignation of project leaders.
In Saturday's celebration of the country's liberation from Japanese rule that ended in 1945, the number of attendees was reduced to 1,300, down from 8,000 in the beginning, as there was little accommodation and food, Jokowi, the name by which the president is known, said. a week.
Hundreds of people who attended the event from the local communities and construction workers joined the event under red umbrellas, behind them are many poorly constructed buildings.
Mulyana, a 38-year-old architect in the new capital, said he had spent the last nine months constructing an office building that was partially used on Saturday to hold a celebration amid limited transportation infrastructure.
“For five months we have been working in 24-hour shifts, because of limited access we need two to three hours (every day) to move concrete using heavy machinery,” Mulyana, a popular Indonesian with one name, told Reuters on Friday. He added that when he arrived about a year ago, there was little water and electricity in the area.
Nussantara is located in a forested pocket on the eastern side of the island of Borneo, about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from the current capital, Jakarta, on the island of Java.
Jokowi has sought to boost confidence in the $32 billion mega-project in recent months, opening hotels and office buildings and holding the first cabinet meeting in the new eagle-shaped palace.
But he also said plans to move thousands of civil servants to Nusntara could be postponed, depending on the capital's readiness, after previously ordering them to pack up and move in September.
Incoming president Prabowo Subianto, who also attended Saturday's event, promised to continue with Nusantara.
A similar celebration was held in Jakarta, where most of the music and dances were performed.
