NUSANTARA, Indonesia ¨C In a remote corner of the island of Borneo on a recent Monday, a runner breezed down the middle of a freshly paved six-lane road. There was no traffic. Nearby, a gigantic eagle-like bird, made of thousands of copper bars, was perched on a hill.
This is the heart of Nusantara, a new, green metropolis rising from scratch from a forest in Indonesia.
But three years after officials broke ground on the city, the prospects of what was billed as Indonesia¡¯s future capital are cloudy. Only a fraction of civil servants who were expected to move in have done so. The future of the water supply is in doubt. Residents still have to commute for hours to go to a mall or a movie. Many Indonesians now call it a ghost city.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.