Indonesian Parliament passes law to declare city of Nusantara as new capital: Reports

Moscow [Russia], January 18 (ANI/Sputnik): The Indonesian House of Representatives formally passed legislation establishing the country's new capital of Nusantara in East Kalimantan province at its 13th plenary session on Monday, Indonesian magazine Tempo reported.
According to the magazine, the first article of the bill formalizes the name of the new capital Nusantara and defines the status of the city, which will become the new political center of the country with all embassies and representative offices of foreign organizations transferred there. The magazine added that Nusantara was declared a city of regional significance, thus becoming an independent administrative unit.
Tempo noted that administration of Nusantara would become the state body responsible for managing the new capital. The president will appoint and dismiss the head of administration and his deputy, whose term of office is limited to five years.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the planned relocation of the Indonesian capital from the Jakarta metropolitan area to East Kalimantan in 2019. The authorities said a new capital was needed due to the congestion of the current capital, as well as in order to accelerate the economic development of Kalimantan. The project, estimated to cost over $30 billion, has been put on hold due to COVID-19 epidemic. (ANI/Sputnik)