Regency legislatures to prepare formation of Cirebon province<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon<\/p>\n
The leadership of five regency legislative councils in West
\nJava were slated to meet in Cirebon on Thursday to conduct
\npreliminary preparations for the planned formation of Cirebon
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
Iwan Hendrawan, chairman of the Indramayu regency legislature,
\nsaid here on Wednesday that during the meeting, the five regency
\nlegislatures would officially announce the details of the
\npreliminary preparations and would begin to discuss the legal and
\npolitical basis for legislation in the new province.<\/p>\n
Those who have confirmed their attendance at the meeting were
\nMaskub Buntoro, chairman of the Cirebon regency legislature,
\nCucup Supardjo, chairman of the Majalengka legislature, Ading
\nAkhyadi, chairman of the Kuningan legislature, Iwan Suryana,
\nchairman of Cirebon city legislature and Iwan Hendrawan.<\/p>\n
"In addition to declaring the official preparations for the
\nformation of the new province, we will discuss constitutional and
\npolitical regulations on the formation of a new province in line
\nwith regional autonomy," said Iwan, who was accompanied by
\nSuryana.<\/p>\n
Besides the five legislatures, Karawang and Ciamis have also
\ngiven their weight behind the proposed province.<\/p>\n
Iwan added that another important issue to be discussed in the
\nmeeting was the guarantee of security for foreign investors who
\nwere operating in the region.<\/p>\n
"We will give a guarantee for foreign investors that the
\nproposed formation of the new province will not adversely affect
\ntheir investments. In fact, we will offer legal and security
\nprotection for them," he said.<\/p>\n
He said foreign mining, manufacturing, offshore drilling and
\ntobacco companies operating along the region's coastal areas
\nwould be protected because their presence would provide a huge
\ncontribution to the new province.<\/p>\n
Several off-shore oil companies and a number of foreign
\nmanufacturing companies, including British American Tobacco
\n(BAT), are already present in the region. ExxonMobil is planning
\nto invest in the region.<\/p>\n
The proposed formation of Cirebon province, which won the
\nbacking of the Cirebon sultanate has met opposition with the West
\nJava provincial legislative council and authorities who have
\nargued that the region was an integral part of the province.<\/p>\n
Banten was separated from West Java and developed into a new
\nprovince in 2000.<\/p>\n
Suryana asserted that the region's five regencies have the
\npolitical right to determine their own future in line with the
\nreform movement and regional autonomy.<\/p>\n
"Cirebon deserves a new province if the region wishes to
\noptimize its economic, cultural and political assets so as to
\nbetter the social welfare of local people," he said.<\/p>\n
He reiterated that the five regencies not only have the
\neconomic potential to develop into a new province, but are also
\nculturally different to predominantly Sundanese West Java.<\/p>\n
"So, the West Java legislature has no plausible reason to
\nblock the five regencies from forming a new province," he said.<\/p>\n
He also said the five legislatures would invite local figures
\nand informal leaders to a large gathering in the near future to
\nseek support for the new province.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an alliance of non-governmental organizations
\n(NGOs) gave their support for the proposed formation of Cirebon
\nprovince.<\/p>\n
They called on the five legislatures to go ahead with their
\nmove to form the new province, despite opposition.<\/p>\n
"We call on the five legislatures to make all the necessary
\npreparations to form the new province because it is our political
\nright to do so," said Syaiful Rachman, spokesman for the NGO
\nalliance.<\/p>\n
The NGOs were Greenland, Pelangi Bahari, Indonesian Youth
\nCommittee, Natural Resources Development Foundation (YPSDA),
\nGempuling, PSDABM and Humanit.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/regency-legislatures-to-prepare-formation-of-cirebon-province-1447893297",
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