Riau archipelago province bill opposed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A bill proposed by the House of Representatives
\nto develop the Riau Islands into its own province, separate to
\nthat of mainland Riau, is meeting strong opposition from the
\nprovincial administration and council.<\/p>\n
During a hearing here on Monday with the House's Commission II
\non legal and home affairs, both Riau Governor Saleh Djasid and
\nprovincial Council speaker Chaidir both argued that dividing the
\nprovince into two -- Riau mainland and islands -- would be in
\ncontradiction with the law on regional autonomy and Riau peoples'
\naspirations.<\/p>\n
Chaidir said the provincial council has already rejected the
\nproposal during a plenary session on June 9.<\/p>\n
\"The provincial council can appreciate the idea of developing
\nthe Riau archipelago into a new province but it has decided to
\nreject it because it is against the law on regional autonomy and
\nthe 1958 agreement on Riau province,\" Chaidir said during the
\nhearing.<\/p>\n
Chaidir further argued that the House should not be trapped
\ninto fulfilling the aspirations of a small group of people who
\nwant to establish their own province.<\/p>\n
He cited an analogy where the House would certainly turn down
\nindependence calls in Aceh and Irian Jaya despite the fact that
\nmany people might support it.<\/p>\n
Riau governor Saleh Djasid also contended that the islands
\ncould not separate into their own province unless they received
\nthe support of the provincial administration and council, as
\nstipulated by the regional autonomy law.<\/p>\n
\"The idea of the new province is only a political commodity of
\ncertain persons among the local Riau elite in order to advance
\ntheir own vested interests,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Saleh hinted that the motivation for separating from mainland
\nRiau is financial.<\/p>\n
\"So far, the islands' revenue has increased to Rp 6 billion
\nover the last three years from Rp 2 billion. It is expected to
\nreach between Rp 12 billion to Rp 15 billion in the years to
\ncome,\" he remarked.<\/p>\n
The proposed province, which borders with Singapore, Malaysia,
\nand the Philippines in the South China Sea, consists of the main
\nislands of Singkep, Lingga, Bintan, Remoang, Galang and Batam. It
\nwould stretch all the way northeast to the Anambas Islands and
\nthe oil and gas rich Natuna Islands.<\/p>\n
The islands as a whole are potentially rich with Batam and its
\nsurrounding islands already developed into a bonded zone area,
\nbauxite found on Bintan Island, granite in Karimun Island along
\nwith oil and gas in Natuna.<\/p>\n
Currently the islands are divided into five regencies or
\nmayoralties with a population of about 600,000.<\/p>\n
Saleh warned that a strong protest would also be launched by
\nthe Bengkalis regency, which under the new plan would remain part
\nof the Riau mainland province.<\/p>\n
\"Riau contributes 60 percent to the national oil output and 90
\npercent of that is from Bengkalis,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Saleh charged that the House should first revise the law on
\nregional autonomy if it wanted to push the bill on establishing
\nthe new province.<\/p>\n
However the arguments seemed to fall on deaf ears as the House
\ncommission seemed adamant on pushing the bill through.<\/p>\n
Amin Aryoso of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\nfaction, who chaired the meeting, took note of the objections but
\nsaid \"the House's committee will go ahead with the bill's
\ndeliberation. The fate of the new province will be determined by
\nthe House in its plenary session\".<\/p>\n
Amin claimed that the House's initiative to introduce the bill
\nwas taken after listening to aspirations of people living in the
\nRiau archipelago, and after receiving a green light from the
\ncentral government.<\/p>\n
He said commission members have personally surveyed the
\nislands and concluded that the plan to establish a separate
\nprovince is both economically and demographically feasible.<\/p>\n
\"And it gained the support of a majority of local people,\"
\nAmin claimed.<\/p>\n
Col. Christine of the Indonesian Military\/National Police
\nfaction, said her faction supported the development of the new
\nprovince to strengthen defense of the area.<\/p>\n
\"The region has since long been prone to foreign infiltration
\nand crimes such as smuggling and piracy,\" she said. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/riau-archipelago-province-bill-opposed-1447893297",
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