Jakarta. The government recently tried to dispel investors’ concerns over the small population size in Indonesia’s future capital of Nusantara. 

The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) previously revealed that investors alike were worried that not many people would live in Nusantara. Because to these investors, the small population would mean a smaller demand for their products.

In response to Apindo’s claims, Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said it would take time before we get to see a well-populated Nusantara.  Civil servants and police officers are set to be among the first people who would live in the yet-to-be-built capital. Once their relocation takes place, Nusantara’s population is set to grow in size.

“So no problem. It is just a matter of time. It is impossible to finish building Nusantara in just one year. It can take two or three years or even five years. But the government’s program and funding are running well. So there are no problems with the population size,” Luhut said in Jakarta over the weekend. 

Nusantara --which lies in East Kalimantan– is also close to some of the province’s major cities. Luhut added: “Nusantara is only 45 minutes away from Balikpapan and Samarinda. This will bring a positive impact to the population growth, so there is nothing to worry about.”

According to the Nusantara authority body, the first batch of civil servants will move to the new capital this September. The authority body claimed that the infrastructure development had reached 84 percent in completion as of June 20. The private sector-owned projects, including hotels and hospitals, are also on track to meet their respective deadlines. “We believe we can achieve all the targets,” Thomas Umbu Pati Tena Bolodadi, a senior official at the authority body, said not long ago.