Kids play in Jakarta
The photo is of children playing in one of the many polluted canals of the mega city that is Jakarta. I took this photo in 1998 shooting a photo story about the fall of President Suharto who was in power for 31 years and regarded by many as a dictator. Before I visited I was also interested in the city which at the time was fast becoming what is termed today as a 'Mega City.' The term megacity means that it is a city with a large metropolitan area with a population of more than 10 million people living in the area. In Jakarta's case, there are over 31 million people making it the 3rd largest megacity in the world behind Tokyo and Shanghai.
The problem for the people in Jakarta is that the city is sinking due to the city's inhabitants using up deep groundwater. As the city has grown the need for clean water has also grown, while the many waterways in the city have become heavily polluted due to the rapid urbanisation and population growth, making it difficult to source clean water at ground level.
The hard rock under Jakarta is about 500 meters below the ground level. Between the hard rock and ground level, there are sand and clay layers and because of the over-abstraction of the groundwater the clay layers have started to compact as they dry, and that is causing Jakarta to sink.
This situation could have been stopped by connecting everybody to the public water supply but this is not available in most areas so people have no choice but to resort to pumping water from the aquifers deep underground.
As Australia suffers from bush fires many in Indonesia are also struggling with the issues of climate change with over 60 people already dying in Jakarta due to the torrential rainfall causing massive floods. It has been reported that over fifteen inches of rain fell on New Year's Day 2020.
What with sea level rises due to climate change and with Jakarta sinking 6.7 inches per year many were not surprised that the Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that the new capital of Indonesia would be Kalimantan which is 1000km away from Jakarta on the island of Borneo. The Indonesian parliament has approved the construction of the new capital on a plot of over 40,000 hectares.
How this move of the capital of Indonesia will pan out is another matter. Will it just mean that another megacity is created further destroying the natural environment in Borneo which is already plagued with logging and oil mining activities along with the destructive cultivation of oil palm trees?
Construction of the new Capital starts in early 2020 with the plan to complete in 2024. There is a massive opportunity to create a modern city that is sustainable in nature, of course that thinking is only right if you believe some types of growth can be environmentally friendly.