Indonesia will build its new capital city in Borneo

[Gaybutton]

The same fate is predicted for Bangkok. And if sea level rising will sink coastal cities, what will become of Pattaya - and when?

I also wonder what will become of Borneo's wildlife, especially Orangutans, which are already an endangered species caused by humans. There are a great many species, both plant and animal, found nowhere else on earth and also endangered because of humans.
_______________________________________________________________________

Indonesia will build its new capital city in Borneo as Jakarta sinks into the Java Sea

by Rob Picheta, CNN

26 August 2019

(CNN) — A jungle-draped area on the east of Borneo island is set to be transformed into Indonesia's new capital city, President Joko Widodo announced Monday, amid concerns over the sustainability of its congested and rapidly sinking political center Jakarta.

The proposed location, near the relatively underdeveloped cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda, is a far cry from the crowded powerhouse which has served as Indonesia's financial heart since 1949 -- and Widodo acknowledged that moving the country's capital to the island will be a mammoth and expensive undertaking.

But Jakarta's rapid expansion in recent years has presented myriad environmental, economic and safety concerns, prompting the government to look elsewhere and ease the strain on the massive metropolis.

"As a large nation that has been independent for 74 years, Indonesia has never chosen its own capital," Widodo said in a televised speech, AFP reported. "The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the center of governance, business, finance, trade and services."

The ambitious project to move the capital will likely cost around 486 trillion rupiah ($34 billion), CNN Indonesia reported, and officials have previously said the relocation could take around 10 years.

Jakarta is home to more than 10 million people, according to the United Nations, with an estimated 30 million in the greater metropolitan area -- making it one of the world's most overpopulated urban regions.

https://us.cnn.com/travel/article/indon ... index.html

[fountainhall]

I had not realised that Jakarta is sinking at the rate of 6.7 inches each year. Estimates are that it will be completely submerged by 2050! Even after the creation of the new capital, I cannot imagine the rate of sinkage will be significantly reduced. I wonder why businesses continue to invest in huge construction projects there. Even if they move a million people out into the jungle, Jakarta will still remain a magnet attracting even more people.

One wonders when the Thai government will think about moving from Bangkok. Parts of the city may only be sinking at a rate of 2 cms per year, but who can forget the massive floods of 2011 and the inability of the city to do anything about the major flooding that occurs regularly during sudden monsoon storms? Like Jakarta, the main reason for Bangkok sinking is the extraction of groundwater at too fast a rate. Tokyo was sinking for the same reason. In 1968 it was sinking at the staggering rate of 9 inches a year. Then the government took action to limit the extraction of groundwater. By the start of this century, even though the number of inhabitants had increased by many millions, the rate of sinking was only 0.4 inches a year.

Now of course global warming has to be added to the flood projections.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2017113 ... om-sinking

[Gaybutton]

I had not realised that Jakarta is sinking at the rate of 6.7 inches each year.

I believe if nothing is done, and now, to curtail global warming and climate change, there will be many more cities under water, along with many plant and animal extinctions. And if we're not careful, that will include humans. And it might not take as long as 2050 before serious problems start occurring.

[fountainhall]

Interesting to look across the Straits to see how low-lying SIngapore plans to fight the possibility of future flooding and rising sea levels.

On August 18, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong used martial language to justify a swathe of expensive new infrastructure projects to protect his island city-state.

At a cost of more than 100 billion Singapore dollars ($72 billion), over the next century Singapore plans to keep water at bay by building everything from giant new seawalls to Dutch-style "polders", or reclaimed land protected by dykes.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Asia-s- ... pital-move