Jakarta, Indonesia's biggest city, has been free of Dutch rule for about 70 years.
Many of the city's 10 million people have no access to piped water and must rely on wells to suck up water from the ground.
The flooding, pollution, sinking earth and congestion have gotten so bad that the country is going to switch capital cities. The country's capital will be moved to the island of Borneo, according to the Associated Press.
Poor residents are still suffering from the chaos of environmental disaster, financial ruin, and the side effects of colonization since the Netherlands built a purposely divided city in the 1600s.
The construction of the new capital city is not just a move of government offices, according to the president.
It sounds great in theory, but according to the AP, current plans are for about 8,000 civil servants to have moved to the new capital by 2024. The relocation process is supposed to be completed by 2045, but that is only five years ahead of the year 2050, when a third of Jakarta could be submerged.
The new location in Borneo isn't ideal due to the wide variety of flora and fauna nearby. Borneo's East Kalimantan province is home to orangutans, leopards and other animals.
The new capital city has at least three basic problems, according to an official with the Indonesian Forum for Environment.
Indonesia reminds us that independence doesn't mean it's free of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.
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