Maluku Strengthens Local Transmigration Programme to Build New Economic Centres

The Maluku Manpower and Transmigration Office (Disnakertrans) is strengthening the local transmigration programme and supporting the implementation of the Patriot Transmigration Expedition as an effort to build new economic centres and accelerate poverty alleviation in the archipelagic region. Head of Disnakertrans Maluku M. Rizal Latuconsina stated in Ambon on Thursday that the concept of transmigration in Maluku needs to be adapted to the characteristics of the island region, which faces land limitations and increasing population density in several areas. “The most appropriate and suitable approach for Maluku is to accelerate or strengthen local transmigration while continuing to support the patriot expedition. Population density in several villages, including on Ambon Island, is already very high, so we need population distribution that still considers the economic potential of each area,” he said. According to Rizal, a team from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) recently conducted a study in Maluku regarding the potential for developing transmigration areas. “We have communicated with the team and requested the results of their study so that the identified economic potentials can be conveyed to the local government as a basis for formulating local transmigration programmes, as well as the patriot expedition,” he said. He expressed hope that the mapping results would serve as a reference for developing leading economic sectors suited to the region’s characteristics, so that transmigration areas do not merely become new settlements but also centres of economic growth. Rizal assessed that transmigration areas in Maluku should be focused on developing the agricultural sector as a primary basis for food security and improving community welfare. “Transmigration areas must be directed to become agricultural centres. We should not venture too much into sectors that are not directly related to agricultural development, because that is the greatest potential to be developed,” he said. He added that the development of the area surrounding the Masela Block National Strategic Project (PSN) also presents an opportunity that can be integrated with the local transmigration programme and the Patriot Expedition. According to him, the area can be developed into a centre for agriculture, livestock farming, and logistics to meet the needs of the community and the oil and gas industry activities that will develop in the region. “If the area around the Masela Block is well prepared through local transmigration and the Patriot Expedition, agricultural and livestock farming zones will emerge that can supply logistical needs. This will simultaneously create jobs, build new economic centres, and become an instrument to reduce extreme poverty in Maluku,” Rizal said. He added that the success of the programme requires collaboration between the central government, local government, universities, the business sector, the media, and the community so that the development of transmigration areas can proceed sustainably and provide broad economic benefits for the people of Maluku.