JAKARTA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The construction of Indonesia's new capital city was scheduled for 2021 and allocation to finance related projects will be set in the 2020 state budget, Indonesia Development Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said here Tuesday.
The allocation was prepared to finance the designing of the new capital city, the minister said, hinting that the location is likely in Kalimantan Island.
"The construction would begin in 2021, we hope the relocation process can be conducted step by step, entirely begin its function as the capital city by 2024," he said.
Feasibility studies in several areas in East Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan provinces are underway, he said, adding that the process has been 90 percent completed.
Among the elements considered in the studies were water reserves, infrastructure, earthquake and forest fire risks and social condition, he added.
He expected that results of the studies can be reported to President Joko Widodo in the near future.
"The president will do the announcement this year, waiting for the right moment to do so," he added.
The ministry revealed earlier that the allocation to finance the relocation may reach 466 trillion rupiah (about 32.5 billion U.S. dollars), sourced from state budget, cooperation with state-run firms and the private sector.
The idea to relocate capital city from Jakarta was issued by President Widodo two months ago on economic and population distribution concerns.
The relocation is expected to boost the economy of regions outside the densely-populated island of Java.
