IKN in Borneo: Local Communities and a Growing Test for Tour and Travel”
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| IKN, built as a grand development project, risks sidelining and abandoning local communities rather than embracing them as partners in progress. Photo: FB IKN. |
Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN) stands at a crossroads where its development will shape not only governance, but also the future of tourism and travel in Borneo, which depend on authenticity, safety, and social stability. Ultimately, IKN will be judged not by infrastructure alone, but by whether it respects local communities and ethical values that sustain Borneo’s appeal as a destination.
Indonesia’s ambitious plan to build a new capital city, Nusantara (IKN), is often framed as a bold leap toward the future. Glass towers, smart infrastructure, and promises of sustainability dominate official narratives. Yet development is not only measured in concrete and steel. It is also measured in tone, language, and the respect shown to people whose lives are directly affected.
Recent remarks by the Head of the Nusantara Capital Authority, Basuki Hadimuljono, have triggered public concern. In a formal setting, he derided civil servants who hesitate to relocate to IKN, labeling them in words that translate as “stupid” and “foolish.” The statement quickly went viral, not because of its policy substance, but because of what it revealed: an attitude of authority that speaks downward rather than listens outward.
Such language matters. It shapes public perception and sets a precedent. When officials normalize ridicule, they weaken the social fabric needed to support long-term national projects. A capital city, after all, is not only a seat of government; it is a living social organism.
Beyond Apartments: The Human Cost of Relocation
Officials have repeatedly emphasized the quality of housing prepared for civil servants in IKN. Spacious apartments, clean tap water, air conditioning, and modern amenities are presented as proof that resistance to relocation is unreasonable. From a bureaucratic standpoint, the argument appears efficient and complete.
But relocation is never merely technical. It involves families, education, healthcare access, spousal employment, cultural belonging, and emotional security. These factors cannot be reduced to floor plans or infrastructure checklists. To dismiss hesitation as ignorance is to ignore the complexity of human decision-making.
Read Borneo Is Bleeding: The World Must Act Before This Natural Paradise Becomes a Tourism Wasteland
More importantly, this rhetoric raises a deeper concern. If educated civil servants can be publicly belittled, how are local and indigenous communities expected to fare in negotiations over land, culture, and livelihood? In Borneo, land is not just property; it is memory, identity, and inheritance. Treating relocation as a simple administrative order risks creating silent but profound social fractures.
History shows that large-scale development projects that disregard social realities often generate long-term instability. Economic growth achieved without social consent may succeed on paper, but fail in lived experience.
Local Communities and the Fragile Social Ecosystem of Borneo
Borneo is not an empty frontier waiting to be organized. It is a richly layered social and ecological landscape, home to indigenous peoples, river-based cultures, and centuries-old systems of coexistence with nature. Any transformation of this scale inevitably reshapes local life.
The concern expressed by many observers is not opposition to progress itself, but the manner in which progress is communicated and implemented. Arrogant language from officials reinforces fears that local voices are peripheral to decision-making. When people feel ignored, resentment grows quietly, often surfacing later as social tension.
This matters not only for governance, but also for Borneo’s image. The island has long been marketed as a destination of cultural depth and ecological wonder. Its social harmony is part of its appeal. Undermining that harmony through top-down policies risks damaging both community trust and international credibility.
Borneo Tourism, Travel, and the Question of Ethical Development
Tourism and travel in Borneo depend on authenticity, safety, and social stability. Travelers are increasingly sensitive to ethical considerations: how destinations treat indigenous communities, protect forests, and manage development. Sustainable tourism is not compatible with narratives of exclusion or contempt.
Read Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN) Diusulkan Jadi Ibu Kota Provinsi Kalimantan Timur
IKN sits at a crossroads. If developed with humility and inclusivity, it could enhance Borneo’s profile as a modern yet culturally rooted destination. Thoughtful urban planning could coexist with eco-tourism, cultural tours, river journeys, and community-based travel experiences. Visitors could witness a living example of respectful development.
However, if the project is perceived as dismissive of people, tourism narratives may shift. Destinations associated with social conflict rarely thrive in the long term. Tour operators, travel writers, and international visitors pay close attention to how governments treat local populations.
A capital city meant for future generations must be built not only with advanced technology, but with social wisdom. Respectful language is not a cosmetic concern; it is foundational. Development that listens creates loyalty. Development that mocks creates distance.
Read IKN and the Sinking of The Dayak’s Dream: A Capital Built on Someone Else’s Future
In the end, the success of IKN will not be determined solely by architecture or policy documents. It will be judged by whether people, both newcomers and long-standing residents of Borneo, feel seen, heard, and respected. Without that, even the most modern capital risks standing on fragile ground.
Borneo Travel
BORNEO TRAVEL is a blog specifically dedicated to domestic and foreign tourists who want to have a vacation, or have an adventure to enjoy the sensation of ecotourism, even those who intend to do research on the island of Borneo which is the third largest island in the world after Greenland and Papua. This island is not only exotic with various world attractions, but also rich in culture and biodiversity that will make anyone fall in love.
