Indonesia picks Borneo island for new capital

Yahoo – AFP, August 26, 2019

Indonesia wants to move its capital from congested Jakarta to a new
purpose-built city in east Kalimantan (AFP Photo/BAY ISMOYO)

Indonesia will move its capital to the eastern edge of jungle-clad Borneo island, President Joko Widodo said Monday, as the country shifts its political heart away from congested and sinking megalopolis Jakarta.

The proposed location -- near the regional cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda -- is an area at "minimal" risk of natural disasters, where the government already owns some 180,000 hectares (445,000 acres) of land, he added.

"The location is very strategic -- it's in the centre of Indonesia and close to urban areas," Widodo said in a televised speech.

"The burden Jakarta is holding right now is too heavy as the centre of governance, business, finance, trade and services," he added.

The announcement ends months of speculation about whether Widodo would follow through on the long-mooted plan -- it was floated by the newly independent country's founding father Sukarno more than half a century ago.

Map of Indonesia showing approximate area of the proposed 

site of the country's new capital. (AFP Photo/AFP)

Shifting from problem-plagued Jakarta would also transfer Indonesia's power base off Java island, where about half of the sprawling archipelago's 260 million people live.

"Moving the capital off Java is a gesture that aims to solidify unity," said Jakarta-based political risk analyst Kevin O'Rourke.

"Jakarta will continue to be a megacity -- as a centre for finance and commerce -- for a few more decades, but ultimately it is at severe risk to climate change," he added.

A bill for the proposed move will now be presented to parliament, Widodo said.

Building is set to begin next year with the move of some 1.5 million civil servants slated to begin by 2024, at a cost of 466 trillion rupiah ($33 billion), officials said.

Orangutans, mining

Known as Kalimantan, Indonesia's section of Borneo -- the island it shares with Malaysia and Brunei -- is home to major mining activities as well as rainforests, and is one of the few places on Earth with orangutans in their natural habitat.

The area around Samboja, Kutai Kartanegara, is one of two locations in 

Eastern Kalimantan chosen as a possible site for the new capital (AFP Photo/

Fachmi RACHMAN)

Environmentalists expressed concerns the capital city move could threaten endangered species.

"The government must make sure that the new capital is not built in a conservation or protected area," said Greenpeace Indonesia campaigner Jasmine Putri.

The region has also been blanketed in choking haze from annual forest fires that ravage vast swathes of land.

"That makes Kalimantan unfit as a candidate for a new capital city," said Jakarta-based urban planning expert Nirwono Joga.

"And the move won't necessarily free Jakarta of problems like flooding, traffic jams and rapid urbanisation," he added.

Map showing the tidal inundation of Jakarta in 2012 and projected 

expansion in 2025 and 2050. (AFP Photo/Janis LATVELS)

Concerns have soared over the future of Jakarta -- a city nicknamed "the Big Durian" after the pungent, spiky fruit that deeply divides fans and detractors.

Built on swampland, the city is one of the fastest-sinking cities on earth, with experts warning that one third of it could be submerged by 2050 if current rates continue. The problem is largely linked to excessive groundwater extraction.

But the city of 10 million -- a number that bloats to about 30 million with surrounding satellite cities -- is also plagued by a host of other ills, from eye-watering traffic jams and pollution to the risk of earthquakes and floods.

Indonesia is not the first Southeast Asian country to move its capital.

Myanmar and Malaysia have both moved their seat of government, while Brazil, Pakistan and Nigeria are among the nations that have also shifted their capital cities.

Restart of Notre-Dame restoration pushed back to August 19

Yahoo – AFP, August 9, 2019

Work at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris has been halted since July 25 over
lead contamination risks (AFP Photo/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)

Paris (AFP) - Renovation work at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris could resume on August 19, a government official said Friday, after the clean-up was halted last month over fears that workers could be exposed to lead poisoning.

Testing revealed dangerously high levels of lead contamination at the site as well as at nearby schools and other buildings, prompting fears that workers and residents risked exposure to the toxic metal.

Hundreds of tonnes of lead in the roof and steeple melted during the April 15 blaze that nearly destroyed the gothic masterpiece, with winds spreading the particles well beyond the church's grounds.

But after weeks of denying any poisoning risks, authorities admitted in late July that anti-contamination measures were insufficient, and two schools near the church were closed after hazardous lead levels were detected.

A worker sprays a gel to absorb lead on the playground at a school on the Rue 

Saint Benoit, near Notre-Dame, on August 8 (AFP Photo/Martin BUREAU)

Since then officials have been racing to implement tougher safety measures for workers at the site, while deploying new methods to remove lead residue from school playgrounds.

Prefect Michel Cadot, the government's top official for the Paris region, will allow work to resume "once there is a guarantee the new measures are in place," his office said in a statement.

Officials had originally said the clean-up could begin next week, but the target date is now set for August 19, it said.

New techniques

This week workers dressed head-to-toe in white hazmat suits sprayed a blue-green gel onto the playground at the two closed schools on the Rue Saint-Benoit, where dozens of children had been attending summer daycare programmes.

Hundreds of tonnes of lead in the roof and steeple melted during the April 15 blaze 

that nearly destroyed the gothic masterpiece (AFP Photo/Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT)

According to city officials, the gel attracted and trapped the lead particles on the ground as it dried, and was later removed with high-pressure hoses.

That procedure and others will also be used on the square in front of Notre-Dame and on streets in the immediately vicinity.

Readings of more than 70 microgrammes per square meter indicate potential health hazards, but testing has found much higher levels at buildings as far as one kilometre from Notre-Dame.

Last week, the city revealed that some schools and daycares beyond a 500-metre perimeter of the church still showed isolated readings of more than 1,000 microgrammes on playgrounds or windowsills.

The clean-up was halted last month over fears that workers could be exposed

to lead poisoning (AFP Photo/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)

Critics have accused the city of failing to notify the public about the worrying results, while an environmental group has filed a lawsuit alleging that officials failed to sufficiently contain the contamination.

Others have urged authorities to cover the entire church with protective cladding to contain the particles, a system often used when removing asbestos.

City officials have rejected the proposal as too costly and complex.

But they have vowed that no schools will reopen in September unless the lead risk has been completely eradicate.

French workers began efforts to remove lead from the area around Notre-Dame cathedral which was contaminated by the devastating April fire, sparking public health concerns and forcing the suspension of restoration work https://t.co/HKQVPcMBLh

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 13 augustus 2019