Indonesia taps influencers to convince people to move to new capital
Published on: Sunday, April 21, 2024
Artist’s impression of part of Indonesia’s new capital City Nusantara.
KALIMANTAN: Four years after Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that he would move the nation’s capital from the main island of Java to Borneo, he led a tour of dozens of influencers through Nusantara, the new capital under construction.
The influencers, wearing hard hats, stood in front of a giant glass-and-chrome building in the shape of a bird — the mythological garuda or golden eagle — which will be the new presidential palace. They listened intently as Jokowi, as the outgoing president is popularly known, gestured at swaths of eucalyptus trees and said, “Remember, this is an industrial forest. It’s chopped down every six years. It is not a natural forest. Don’t get it wrong.”
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The gathered influencers took note. On TikTok, Jerhemy Owen told his three million followers: “Nusantara will be the smartest and most eco-friendly city in the world! It will be 65pc forest and 25pc urban area.”
As Indonesia prepares to move its capital away from the overcrowded and rapidly sinking city of Jakarta, authorities are relying on influencers to sell Nusantara as a liveable and desirable city. Briefings have been held across the country with influencers, who are regarded as “strategic partners.”
In last September’s tour of the future capital, dozens of influencers listened to the president lay out his vision for Nusantara. Jokowi even joked with them and posed for selfies.
“We hope influencers can participate in disseminating information [to the public] about Nusantara,” Usman Kansong, director-general of communications at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, said in a separate briefing in the city of Bandung. The goal is to increase the public’s knowledge, as well as to create a positive attitude towards moving to the capital city.”
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Building a capital city from scratch is rare, but not unheard of. Brazil moved its capital from Rio de Janeiro to the newly built city of Brasília in 1960. Egypt is building an administrative capital about 30 miles from Cairo, despite concerns about the enormous expense as the country goes through an economic downturn.
TikTok influencer @jerhemynemoo shares his visit through Nusantara with his three million followers.
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Nusantara, too, is rife with controversy. Just over half of Indonesians support the new capital, according to the latest survey by research firm Indikator Politik Indonesia.
But many are also fighting for the millions of dollars promised as compensation for the land they gave up. Private investment in the capital has been slow to come.
Environmentalists and activists have criticized the clearing of mangroves and forests, and the forced displacement of local residents and Indigenous communities.
“Deforestation is a real issue,” Arga Pribadi Imawan, a professor in the department of politics and government at Gadjah Mada University, told Rest of World. With thousands of acres of trees flattened to the ground, the city is at risk of frequent flooding and water contamination, he said.
“I’m very doubtful of the concept of a ‘smart forest city.’ Governments typically cut down the forest, build the city, then rebuild the forest somewhere else. But research shows that rebuilding the forest can take over a century.”
This is where the influencers come in. After their visit to Nusantara — an old Javanese word once used to describe the Indonesian archipelago — they posted gushing videos on their YouTube channels, Instagram reels, and TikTok.
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