Calls mount for Cirebon province
Calls mount for Cirebon province
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon
The demand for the creation of Cirebon province is receiving
mounting support from local senior politicians, community and
religious leaders, non-governmental activists, students,
businessmen and academics.
Supporters include Cirebon Sultan Sepuh Maulana Pakuningrat
XIII, local community figures and leaders of the Association of
Legislative Councils in Cirebon's Region III (AKDC) covering the
regencies of Majalengka, Kuningan, Indramayu and Cirebon.
The four regencies' people have different ethnic, cultural and
historical roots with those of the other regencies in its current
province, West Java. Such similarities were behind the drive for
the successful formation of Banten Province two years ago.
The group of Cirebon leaders held a closed-door meeting on
Sunday night at the city's Hotel Kharisma to discuss efforts to
make their demands heard. The gathering was headed by Sultan
Sepuh Maulana.
"The move (the closed-door meeting) was intended to avoid
excessive coverage on this issue, which could lead to
misperceptions among some people, particularly members of the
elite bureaucrats in West Java Province," AKDC chairman Iwan
Hendrawan told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said the meeting was also aimed at finding a "similar
vision and mission" to pave the way for the technical formation
of the province.
Also present were Cirebon legislative council speaker Suryana,
and three other council chairmen from Indramayu (Iwan Hendrawan),
Kuningan (Ading Akhyadi) and Majalengka (Supardjo), as well as
community leaders from those districts.
In addition, many leaders from various youth and student
groups were in attendance, such as the Indonesian National
Student Movement (GMNI), the Indonesian Muslim Student Movement
(PMII), the Majalengka Student Forum, the Student Executive Body
(BEM) based at Gunung Jati University and the Movement for the
Cirebon Women's Struggle.
Sultan Sepuh Maulana told the Post that the forum was a
follow-up to the previous meeting on July 14, held at his royal
palace.
"The latest meeting focused on a discussion of the technical
implementation of the establishment of Cirebon province," he
said.
A plan to organize a Cirebon People's Congress on Oct. 28, to
coincide with national Youth Oath Day, was also discussed in the
meeting, the sultan added.
The congress, to be attended by thousands of local people, is
expected to give support for the establishment of the province.
Daniel Saleka, chairman of the Cirebon businessmen's forum --
who attended the meeting along with 40 of his members, hailed
plans to separate Cirebon from West Java and make it a new
province.
"The idea to set up a Cirebon province is strategic, as the
move will create a dynamic, healthy and competitive business
climate in Cirebon and its surrounding areas," he argued.
If the demand is approved, the new province will include at
least four districts -- Cirebon Kuningan, Indramayu and
Majalengka.
The demand for the government to split Cirebon from West Java
province was raised apparently in protest against alleged
discriminatory policies against the region.
"One of the discriminatory policies by the West Java
administration was its unclear stance and apparent unwillingness
to take serious action when two districts -- Cirebon and
Indramayu -- which are the province's main rice producers, were
facing drought," Suryana said.
"This is the type of thing we deeply regret," he added.
Another unfavorable policy was West Java's lack of support for
the development of the Cirebon airport and seaport, Suryana said.
"Since 1960, the development of the ports has never been taken
into serious account by the provincial administration."
The demand first surfaced when the AKDC issued a political
manifesto on Nov. 8 last year on the establishment of the Cirebon
province.