Aceh's Nasi island sees blessing in disguise
Aceh's Nasi island sees blessing in disguise
Yasad Ali, Antara, Banda Aceh, Aceh
A blessing in disguise, in the form of construction of a
Guantanamo-like detention center on Nasi island for Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) rebels, may exist for the inhabitants who have
been living there in solitude.
"As part of the island group in the district of Pulau Aceh,
Nasi island can be likened to a girl to whom many men have
proposed but none has ever married," said Jamaluddin, a Nasi
community leader.
Entrepreneurs from Hong Kong have visited the 2,900-hectare
island, which is a home to 1,989 people, over the last five
years, but no investment has ever materialized.
Along with several other islands in Pulau Aceh district, Nasi
island belongs to the Integrated Economic Development Zone of
Sabang, and has even been included in the Sabang free port zone.
The two approaches to boost economic growth, however, have not
yet fulfilled the expectations of Pulau Aceh's population,
including Nasi islanders.
"With a camp for detainees, the island will become more busy,
such that its economic growth is expected to be accelerated,"
Jamaluddin said, hoping that it would not bear the stigma of
being the second Nusakambangan, a big-shot criminal penitentiary
situated south of the Central Java town, Cilacap.
A detention center on Nasi island was inspired by the U.S.
decision to keep prisoners of war captured during the attack on
Afghanistan's Taliban regime in a camp on Guantanamo island,
Cuba, for investigation purposes.
Jamaludin suggested that improvement of the local community's
living conditions follow the construction of the GAM detention
center, because people on the island had been neglected for a
long time. It was a GAM base until the military seized it last
month.
"Some of the GAM members arrested have effectively been placed
in an open jail and badly need special support," he added.
The island is located less than 10 kilometers from Banda Aceh,
the capital of Aceh province.
Indonesian Military (TNI) chief of general affairs Lt. Gen.
Djamari Chaniago, revealing the plan to establish a detention
center while on a visit to Aceh, said the complex would cover 20
hectares and accommodate around 1,000 people.
The choice of the island as the site for the legal processing
and detention of prisoners was based on various considerations,
including the availability of a fairly extensive site with easy
access to the Aceh mainland.
Jamaluddin, secretary of the Pulau Aceh development
foundation, pointed out that a serious problem on Nasi island
demanded more than just the action of district and regency
authorities.
He was referring to the eradication of marijuana plantations
-- along with hundreds of tons of cannabis -- on the island,
which would require the involvement of Aceh police and a
crackdown on rebels.
Therefore, the plan to speed up the construction of a
detention center on Nasi island obviously depends on the special
attention of the Aceh provincial administration and the central
government, particularly with regard to the supply of public
infrastructure and facilities, such as roads and means of marine
transportation.
Jamaluddin said development on Nasi and the other islands in
Pulau Aceh district should not be oriented to their populations,
a process that would take centuries to complete. Instead, they
should be seen as an asset of the growth zone because of the
potential, as yet untapped, of fisheries and tourism.
Pulau Aceh district secretary Sulaiman acknowledged the slow
pace of development on Nasi island in referring to the main
constraints, such as population scarcity, lack of interest by
officers in island assignments and local landowners taking up
residence on mainland Aceh.
He pointed to a village inhabited by only 17 families on the
island, capable of accommodating thousands of families. With only
12 kilometers of regency roads in the form of hardened earth,
Nasi has no asphalted roads, partly due to a lack of construction
materials within easy access.