Autonomy pits Jambi against Riau over island

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two neighboring provinces, Riau and Jambi, have been involved in an intense rift over Berhala Island over the last two months. Both have claimed the ten-square-kilometer islet, for political, cultural and historical reasons.

Both sides said they were awaiting mediation from the central government to resolve the conflict.

The dispute, which first surfaced in 1983, has been worsening since the two provinces have grown increasingly interested in developing the island's economic, tourist and fishing potential under the regional autonomy law.

The row over the island rose into surface following the proposed formation of the Riaus Island regency.

Jambi Governor Zulkifli Nurdin insisted that if seen from the geographical, administrative and historical perspectives, Berhala was an integral part of Jambi.

"If Riau said the rift over the island should no longer be discussed because it was part of its territory, Jambi adversely issues its own claim," he said in a meeting with students, activists and journalists in Jambi on Tuesday.

He said the rift must be solved and the island must be returned to Jambi.

He said he had none of his own interests behind the rift or the island but his administration was collecting material evidence and data to support their claim of the island.

Many Jambi people whose ancestors came from the island have pressed the governor to retrieve the island since the island was a home for their forefathers and cultural heritage of the former Melayu kingdom Before and After Christ.

According to Zulkifli, administratively, 12 families living on the island had identity cards from the Jambi provincial administration and cast their votes for political parties in Jambi in the 1982 general election

"This is evidence that the island's 50 inhabitants are part of Jambi's population and they have interacted with other people on the Jambi mainland," he said as quoted by Antara.

The island has been under a no-activity status since the rift erupted in 1983, barring the two provinces from doing activities on it.

Fachruddin Saudagar, a historian from Jambi University, concurred and said that according to the Tanah Simpang and Tanah Kumpeh Hilir charters written in 1211, the island was part of Jambi.

He said Jambi should retrieve the island, explaining the importance of the Islamic-Melayu history in the province.

He said that according to history, the island, located 2.5 miles off the Batanghari River mouth in the Jambi regency of East Tanjung Jabung, was occupied by a king of Turkish-descent, King Datuk Paduka Berhala in 1321.

From his marriage with Princess Selaras Pinang Masak, Berhala gained a son named Datuk Paduka Nangsum who was made the new king of the island. Nangsum married the daughter of Demang Lebar Daun in Palembang, South Sumatra and they had four sons --Orang Kayo Hitam, Orang Kayo Pingai, Orang Kayo Pendataran and Orang Kayo Gemuk. On the island, the four established a town, Ujung Jabung, which was an embryo for the birth of Islamic Melayu culture in Jambi.

Meanwhile, Saleh Syari, an informal leader of Berhala Island, called on the two provinces' governors to seek a peaceful solution to the rift with the mediation of the home affairs ministry to give legal certainty on the island's status.

"The government should seek an immediate solution to the conflict so that the island's inhabitants are certain of which province they are in," Antara quoted Syari as saying in Pekanbaru on Wednesday.

According to him, most people on the island had claimed they are part of Riau.

"In the past, many locals preferred Jambi Province because of Riau's lack of attention to the island. But, now it is different," he said without elaborating.

Besides the historical, cultural and political reasons, the island is part of Riau in accordance with the map made during the Dutch colonial era.

Directorate General for Public Administration and Regional Autonomy Soedarsono said the government would immediately facilitate a meeting between the conflicting provinces to seek a peaceful solution.

He said the central government had no concept of how such problems should be solved "but at least we will mediate between the two sides to seek a peaceful solution."

Soedarsono admitted that many such problems had surfaced during the autonomy but the government could do nothing to the problems because such problems could not stipulated in the regional autonomy.

He said most regents, experts and legislators were holding a gathering in Palembang, South Sumatra to make preparations for the planned amendment of the autonomy law so that such problems would not arise in the future.

"I don't know yet what changes will be made to the law because it is still being discussed by regents, experts and legislators," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone.