Forkoda Continues to Push Strategic Steps for West Java Regional Expansion
The West Java Regional Coordination Forum for the Acceleration of New Autonomous Regions (Forkoda PP DOB) is pushing strategic measures in its campaign for regional expansion in West Java. The struggle for expansion is deemed insufficient if it relies solely on administrative feasibility studies; it must be accompanied by regional readiness for self-reliance.
This emerged during the Forkoda PP DOB West Java gathering themed ‘Supporting the 81st Anniversary of West Java Province’, held on the rooftop of the West Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on Wednesday (19/8).
The Chairman of Forkoda PP DOB West Java, Dr. H. Rahmat Hidayat Djati, M.I.P., stated that given its vast area and large population, West Java requires regional structuring capable of strengthening equitable development and public services.
According to him, the campaign to establish new autonomous regions must be directed towards a more substantive goal, namely creating a government that can provide services that are closer, more effective, and more equitable.
‘It is impossible for development and welfare improvement based on justice to be realised optimally if the problem of regional inequality is not addressed,’ was the core view conveyed by Rahmat at the gathering.
Rahmat emphasised that the expansion campaign requires clear measures and targets. Candidate preparatory regions (CDOB) must not merely pursue eligible status based on studies, but must prepare the foundations of self-reliance from the outset.
He argued that clear parameters are needed to measure how long a CDOB requires a transition period before it can truly stand as an autonomous region. These parameters include regional financial capacity, development planning, investment, cooperation, and public service readiness.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of Forkonas PP DOB, Abdurahman Sang, S.Sos., M.Si., assessed that the expansion campaign must begin to shift from merely pursuing eligibility status towards efforts to prepare regions to be truly capable of standing independently.
According to him, every CDOB needs to have clear measures regarding its prospects of becoming an autonomous region and how long it will take to achieve self-reliance. Therefore, additional indicators are needed as benchmarks for measuring the capacity of each candidate region.
These self-reliance parameters, he continued, are important to include in the Grand Design for Regional Structuring and its derivative regulations. With clear measures, each CDOB can understand its position and the targets to be achieved from the preparation period through to the new autonomous region stage.
On the same occasion, the Secretary of Forkoda PP DOB West Java, Dr. Muhammad Sufyan Abdurahman, stressed the importance of building public legitimacy and digital readiness for the ten West Java CDOBs. Administrative readiness does not automatically make a region ready reputationally and digitally. Therefore, the expansion campaign needs to change its narrative from merely a matter of territorial division into an effort to create public value, such as shortening the distance of government services and reducing the burden on communities.
He also encouraged strengthening information transparency, digital services, public participation, and reputation management. Forkoda proposed a CDOB Digital Readiness Index covering digital presence, public engagement, information transparency, digital service readiness, and digital reputation.
At the gathering, Padjadjaran University academic Dr. Yogi Suprayogi Sugandi, S.Sos., M.A., Ph.D., explained that regional structuring regulations now increasingly emphasise regional capacity and sustainability. The formation of new regions must also not sacrifice the parent region, so fiscal, institutional, public service, and economic resilience aspects must be comprehensively considered.
There are currently ten West Java CDOBs proposed by the West Java Provincial Government based on a Padjadjaran University study: West Indramayu, East Bogor, West Bogor, North Sukabumi, South Garut, South Cianjur, South Tasikmalaya, North Garut, North Subang, and East Cirebon.
Forkoda hopes that the future expansion campaign will be increasingly measurable, data-based, and able to demonstrate tangible benefits for the community. Thus, expansion does not merely create new regions, but becomes an instrument to bring the state closer to the people and strengthen equitable development in West Java.