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.