Prabowo's Visit to Miangas Deemed a Positive Signal for Drafting the Regional Archipelagic Bill

JAKARTA - The Chairman of the DPD RI, Sultan Najamuddin, views President Prabowo Subianto’s visit to Miangas Island as a positive indicator for the process of drafting the Regional Archipelagic Bill (RUU Kepulauan Daerah).

Through Prabowo’s presence on this outermost Indonesian island, Sultan hopes that the Regional Archipelagic Bill will soon be enacted.

“President Prabowo’s visit to Miangas Island is a positive sign for the drafting process of the Regional Archipelagic Bill. We hope this bill will soon be passed into law by the DPR, as it has been proposed for over a decade,” said Sultan in his statement on Sunday (10/5/2026).

Furthermore, Sultan stated that his side is currently discussing the Regional Archipelagic Bill with the government and the DPR RI, as a legal necessity for the development and growth of archipelagic regions.

“We need the Regional Archipelagic Bill as an inclusive policy with an archipelagic perspective. In this way, the interests of archipelagic communities regarding their basic needs can be addressed in a planned and comprehensive manner,” he said.

Sultan noted that the outermost, frontier, and underdeveloped (3T) regions serve as Indonesia’s face to neighbouring ASEAN countries.

Therefore, he also expressed appreciation for President Prabowo Subianto’s visit, which directly observed the social life of the Miangas community.

“The President has an extraordinary commitment to the development of basic infrastructure for archipelagic communities. Frontier and outermost regions, which are essentially archipelagic areas, require greater attention from the state,” he said.

Prabowo stated that he is the second president after Indonesia’s 7th President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to visit Miangas, Talaud, North Sulawesi (Sulut).

“We are grateful; I am the second president to have visited Miangas. Mr Jokowi went there before,” said Prabowo, while meeting with Miangas residents at SMK 2 Talaud.

Prabowo mentioned that Jokowi had inaugurated the Miangas airport.

He pledged to maintain the airport and other facilities, including the community health centre.

“The Health Minister just whispered to me earlier that for several years since the time of Mr Harto (Indonesia’s 2nd President Soeharto), the community health centre has not been repaired. We will repair all community health centres in Indonesia immediately,” he said.

“We will also renovate all schools. This year and over the next 2-3 years, all schools in Indonesia will be renovated,” he added.