Indonesia celebrated its 79th Independence Day on Saturday with a flag-raising ceremony in its unfinished future capital, Nusantara.

Located in the eastern part of Borneo, the new emerging city is touted as a sustainable, high-tech alternative to overcrowded, sinking Jakarta.

President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, presided over the ceremony together with President-elect Prabowo Subianto.

Subianto is expected to take office in October.

The flag-raising ceremony took place in the new presidential palace against a backdrop of cranes and construction sites. It included a prayer and a military parade, but no speech by the outgoing president.

Widodo had previously stated that 8,000 guests would be invited, but due to a lack of infrastructure, the number was later reduced to 1,300.

Meanwhile, Vice President Maruf Amin and his future successor Gibran Rakabuming Raka held a ceremony in Indonesia’s current capital, Jakarta.

Controversial Nusantara

While government buildings are almost completed, most major projects are still unfinished or have not even been started.

It is the flagship project of outgoing President Widodo, whose ten-year tenure at the helm of the world’s fourth-most populous country was marked by major infrastructure projects. Nusantara was by far the most ambitious and controversial.

The $35 billion (€31.7 billion) project has so far encountered numerous delays, problems in acquiring land and also in obtaining private investment to finance 80 percent of the project.

In addition, environmentalists are warning against the construction of a metropolis in one of the largest rainforest areas in the world, which is home to orangutans, long-nosed monkeys and clouded leopards, among others.

mk/sri (dpa, AFP)