Indonesia to restrict ground water use to halt Jakarta’s sinking

Jakarta’s plight is one of the key reasons for President Joko Widodo’s plan to move the administrative seat to a new capital in the heart of Borneo island. - AFP

JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesia will limit ground water use to conserve water supply and halt land subsidence that already plagues its capital Jakarta.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry will require households using more than 100 cubic meters of water a month to hold permits, Muhammad Wafid, acting head of the ministry’s geology agency, said on Monday. Most families use only about 30 cubic meters a month.