Indonesia: Prabowo hints at defunding Widodo’s new capital

NUSANTARA – All that could be seen was a concrete skeleton on a dusty plot of land with the hot May sun beating down on it. This, I was confidently informed by my guide, would become a state-of-the-art hospital for Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara, in East Kalimantan.

When would it be ready? August, they claimed, just in time for an August 17 Independence Day ceremony that would take place in the new capital to coincide with the planned relocation of the president and a first wave of civil servants from Jakarta.

Just four months later, people are now speculating whether the upcoming leadership transition in Indonesia’s government might consign the US$30 billion megaproject to the dustbin of history.

The Independence Day ceremony was scaled back due to a lack of infrastructure, the transfer of civil servants has been delayed and President Joko Widodo left after a few symbolic days of work there. The hospital, meanwhile, is reportedly still under construction.

President-elect Prabowo Subianto has publicly stated he is committed to completing the construction and transfer of the new capital.

Yet, there are preliminary signs that he may be reluctant to continue committing such large sums of money to a legacy project once he’s in power, especially given his own expansive spending plans.

“[Widodo] I believe has taken on a historic role in initiating this, at the very least I will continue, and if possible I will complete it,” declared Prabowo, as he visited the building site of the new capital last month.

As part of his election campaign, Prabowo presented himself as the heir to Widodo and enjoyed his tacit, if not overt, backing by tapping Widodo’s son as his running mate. Even with his victory now secure, both sides have