DPD: Archipelagic Regions Bill Strengthens Direction of Development Policy
GKR Hemas, Deputy Speaker of the DPD RI and person in charge of the Archipelagic Regions Bill working team, said the bill provides an important foothold for ensuring that Indonesia’s direction of development proceeds in harmony with its identity as an archipelagic state.
Under the draft regulation, development would no longer be viewed purely from a land-based perspective, but would be designed with attention to the geographical, social, economic and maritime characteristics that constitute Indonesia’s principal strength.
She noted that Indonesia has been recognised as an archipelagic state under Article 25A of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, as well as the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), ratified through Law Number 17 of 1985.
That recognition, she said, must be realised in national development policies that favour the characteristics of archipelagic regions.
“As an archipelagic state, Indonesia requires development policies that reflect that identity. Recognition as an archipelagic nation must not stop as a constitutional or geographical concept, but must become the foundation for formulating national development policy,” Hemas said in a written statement.
She assessed that the Archipelagic Regions Bill is a strategic step towards delivering continuity in the direction of national development. The regulation is expected to serve as a cross-sectoral reference for formulating development policy, so that every ministry, institution and regional government shares the same perspective in developing archipelagic territories.
“The Archipelagic Regions Bill not only regulates the regions, it also builds a new paradigm of development in formulating national policy. In this way, development will no longer proceed in silos, but will be interconnected in realising equitable development and public welfare across all archipelagic territories,” she said.
Meanwhile, Graal Taliawo, Deputy Head of the DPD’s Archipelagic Regions Bill working team, added that the bill is a moment to strengthen the synchronisation of various policies that remain scattered across numerous laws and regulations.
According to him, many policies already govern maritime affairs and regional governance, but they have yet to be integrated into a single framework for archipelagic regional development.
“The Archipelagic Regions Bill is being introduced to unify the various policies that have so far run on their own. Through a more complete legal framework, archipelagic regional development can be designed in a manner that is more directed, measurable and sustainable,” said the senator from North Maluku province.
Graal explained that developing archipelagic territories requires an approach that treats the sea as a living space, an economic space and a space of connectivity between regions. Development policy must therefore integrate public services, local economic strengthening, environmental protection and improved competitiveness of archipelagic regions.
“When the sea is viewed as a connecting space, development policy must also be framed with a perspective of inter-island connectivity. This is the outlook we wish to strengthen through the Archipelagic Regions Bill, so that development genuinely reaches every part of Indonesia,” he said.