Wildfires threaten Indonesia’s new capital as carrier ordered in

Indonesia’s wildfires are creeping towards Nusantara, the country’s new capital under construction on Borneo island, challenging its promise of becoming an eco-friendly “smart forest city”.The Southeast Asian nation is battling what officials call its most intense wildfire season in 11 years. Nearly 202,000 hectares (499,000 acres) of forest and peatland have been razed nationwide from January to June, according to Sipongi, the Indonesian forest ministry’s monitoring platform. Sipongi data shows more than 14,000 hotspots were recorded between August 1 and September 9 – up from 1,033 over the same period last year.Fires have been detected across more than 400 hectares of the land earmarked for Nusantara in East Kalimantan, which is surrounded by some of the hardest-hit areas.A firefighter sprays water on a wildfire in South Sumatra, Indonesia, on Saturday. Photo: EPANusantara sits on 252,000 hectares of land, only a quarter of which will host governmental offices, civil service housing and commercial infrastructure.