As construction workers toil day and night to meet the government’s Aug. 17 deadline for unveiling Nusantara, Ridwan’s prophetic statement might have already come true, for all the wrong reasons.

Since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo first announced the Nusantara relocation and development project in 2019, work has been underway on a site four times the area of Jakarta to build the new capital, designed as a smart city with a forest city concept, complete with state-of-the-art buildings and cutting-edge technology.

Why move the capital? According to Jokowi, the 500-year-old metropolis of Jakarta is plagued by perennial problems ranging from pollution and overpopulation to traffic congestion, and then some.

But it seems that Jakarta’s problems are part and parcel of the relocation project, with residents in areas surrounding the future capital complaining about various issues, from rising crime rates to untreated waste and a shortage of clean water.

While an influx of workers and other new arrivals has boosted the restaurant business of Sulis Sugiarti, who lives on the doorstep of Nusantara in Sepaku district, North Penajam Paser regency, she is now concerned about safety.

Private and construction vehicles travel in traffic on July 25, 2024, on a road leading to Nusantara in North Penajam Paser regency, East Kalimantan. (JP/Salman M. Vermonte)