0 Your letters: Moving the capital?

A number of people have been talking without using their brains including — unfortunately — the leader of this country. Does anybody know what is involved when they talk about moving the capital? Palangkaraya is out of the question. During forest fires no plane is able to land there and even the roads are dangerous because of thick smog. Rivers, which are the most important means of travel in Kalimantan, also become dangerous as boats are unable to navigate due to the thick smoke. 

I have lived for more than 10 years in Kalimantan and know what I am talking about. Choosing another city as the capital means the construction of so many buildings to house foreign embassies and consulates, including trade centers. What about foreign banks and foreign companies, especially mining companies? What about constructing a new international airport? Billions and billions of dollars are involved. It is cheaper to build dikes to protect Jakarta’s coastline and to construct sophisticated drainage systems, flood canals and install powerful pumps. 

Joko “Jokowi” Widodo wants to dig enormous pits to accommodate excessive water coming down from the hills surrounding Jakarta, especially from the Puncak area. Where does Jokowi wish to construct these enormous pits? Is there land available? This is similar to constructing water wells to accommodate the continuous flow of water coming down from a waterfall. Jokowi should start talking to Dutch experts and he should start planning flood canals and drainage systems that really work. Please note that Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Schiphol International Airport lie at least 10 meters below sea-level but these two cities — including one of Europe’s biggest airports — are never flooded.

Lynna van der Zee-Oehmke
Bogor, West Java
source : the jakarta post