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.