Jakarta is sinking. Now In Indonesia has to find a new capital

THIS WEEK, AMID devastating flooding, Indonesia announced it's planning to move its capital out of Jakarta, which really is nothing new—the country’s first president was talking about it way back in 1957. Part of the problem is extreme congestion, but today the city of more than 10 million is facing nothing short of obliteration by rising seas and sinking land, two opposing yet complementary forces of doom. Models predict that by 2050, 95 percent of North Jakarta could be submerged. And Jakarta is far from alone—cities the world over are drowning and sinking, and there’s very little we can do about it short of stopping climate change entirely.

Jakarta, a city of more than 10 million, is facing nothing
short of obliteration by rising seas and sinking land, two
opposing yet complementary forces of doom.

Jakarta is a victim of climate change, the fault of humans the world over (though mostly the fault of corporations), but it’s also a victim of its own policies. The city is sinking—a process known as land subsidence—because residents and industries have been draining aquifers, often illegally, to the point that the land is now collapsing. Think of it like a giant underground water bottle: If you empty too much of it and give it a good squeeze, it’s going to buckle. Accordingly, parts of Jakarta are sinking by as much as 10 inches a year.

Read the story from Wired by Matt Simon  - “Jakarta is sinking. Now In Indonesia has to find a new capital.”

Drowning in garbage

Since early 2016, I have travelled to six major cities around the world (Jakarta, Tokyo, Lagos, New York, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam) to investigate how they manage — or mismanage — their waste. There are some remarkable differences. And a question emerges: Is this just garbage, or is it a resource?

Scavengers dig through the trash at Jakarta’s Bantar Gebang.

The world generates at least 3.5 million tons of solid waste a day, 10 times the amount a century ago, according to World Bank researchers. If nothing is done, that figure will grow to 11 million tons by the end of the century, the researchers estimate. On average, Americans throw away their own body weight in trash every month. In Japan, meanwhile, the typical person produces only two-thirds as much. It’s difficult to find comparable figures for the trash produced by mega-cities. But clearly, New York generates by far the most waste of the cities I visited: People in the broader metropolitan area throw away 33 million tons per year, according to a report by a global group of academics published in 2015 in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences. That’s 15 times the Lagos metropolitan area, their study found.

Read The Washington Post story by Kadir van Lohuizen - “Drowning in garbage.”

Jakarta floods prove a political hot potato

Jakarta: Severe flooding is not unusual in Jakarta, a city already 40 per cent below sea level and sinking at an average of three inches a year, but rarely has it been so politicised as this past week.

Children play on flooded streets after
heavy monsoon rains in Bukit Duri,
Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday.

Torrential rain has buffeted the capital since Sunday, causing flooding at 52 locations, and claiming two lives, including a sanitation worker who was swept away while taking photos of the flooding for the Jakarta administration.

The atmosphere is already febrile in the city as two gubernatorial candidates prepare to face off in a second-round election in April.

However, despite the dramatic lead up to the February elections - during which the incumbent, Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, was accused of insulting Islam - post-vote surveys revealed religion was a determining factor for only about 8-10 per cent of voters.

Read the story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Jakarta floods prove a political hot potato.”