Archipelagic Regions Bill: DPD RI's Effort to End Land-Oriented Development Paradigm

Indonesia is the largest archipelagic nation in the world. However, millions of people living on small, outer, and archipelagic islands continue to face development disparities. Limited access to education, health services, connectivity, regional fiscal capacity, and the suboptimal utilisation of marine potential are issues that hinder public welfare. Stemming from these conditions, the DPD RI is championing the Archipelagic Regions Bill as a new foundation for national development that is fairer and aligned with Indonesia’s geographical character. This effort has now entered a crucial phase. After being officially discussed with the House of Representatives (DPR RI), the DPD RI’s Archipelagic Regions Bill Working Team participated in a series of Hearing Meetings held by the DPR RI’s Special Committee for the bill with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These cross-ministerial discussions aim to strengthen the bill’s substance so it can comprehensively address the development issues of archipelagic regions, ranging from governance and fiscal justice to the management of marine potential and the strengthening of national defence and sovereignty. The Head of the DPD RI’s Archipelagic Regions Bill Working Team, Andi Sofyan Hasdam, asserted that the bill is an effort to correct the national development paradigm, which has so far been more oriented towards land areas. He noted that Indonesia has long been recognised globally as an archipelagic state, so development policies should accommodate the characteristics of archipelagic regions more fairly. ‘We have acknowledged since the Djuanda Declaration that Indonesia is an archipelagic state, but it turns out we have been land-oriented all this time,’ said the senator from East Kalimantan. According to Andi, the Archipelagic Regions Bill is not intended to grant privileges to specific regions, but rather to introduce affirmative policies so that archipelagic regions receive equal opportunities in development. The regulation is expected to strengthen governance, public services, connectivity, regional potential management, and funding schemes suited to the characteristics of archipelagic regions. The urgency of the bill is increasingly evident given that approximately 28.5 million people live in ten archipelagic provinces, with around 3.7 million of them still living in poverty.