Governor shuns Tapanuli province

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin called on Thursday for people to reconsider plans to create Tapanuli province on Sumatra island.

If established, the new province may not be able to survive because it has no reliable income sources to finance the operation of its administration, he said.

The governor said the plans unveiled two years ago to split North Sumatra into provinces -- North Sumatra and Tapanuli -- would only make local people to suffer.

He said his provincial administration was still conducting an analysis to determine whether to approve or reject the plans. --JP