BORNEO

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Context

• Indonesia is moving its capital from Jakarta to Borneo.

Why is Indonesia moving its capital?

• Jakarta is home to about 10 million people and three times that number in the greater metropolitan area.
• It has been described as the world’s most rapidly sinking city, and at the current rate, it is estimated that one-third of the city could be submerged by 2050.
• The main cause is uncontrolled ground water extraction, but it has been exacerbated by the rising Java Sea due to climate change.
• Its air and groundwater are heavily polluted, it floods regularly and its streets are so clogged that it's estimated congestion costs the economy $4.5 billion a year.
• President Joko Widodo envisions the construction of a new capital as a nostrum for the problems plaguing Jakarta, reducing its population while allowing the country to start fresh with a “sustainable city."

Why are environmentalists concerned?

• Skeptics worry, however, about the environmental impact of building a sprawling 256,000-hectare (990-square-mile) city down in Borneo’s East Kalimantan province, which is home to orangutans, leopards and a wide array of other wildlife.

How are indigenous communities impacted?

• At least five villages with more than 100 Indigenous Balik people are relocating because of the construction, with more villages expected to be uprooted as the building site expands.

Borneo: Geography

• Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia.
• At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra.
• The island is politically divided among three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south.
• Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory. In the north, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak make up about 26% of the island.

 

PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Choose the correct answer with reference to the following statements. A.    Borneo is the largest island in the world. B.    The island is politically divided among three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south. 1. A only 2. B only 3. Both A and B 4. Neither A nor B Answer: 2 Greenland is the largest island in the world.