Regent of North Nias Prostrates Himself, Pleading: Tired of Regions in the 3T Category Being Ignored by the Centre
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Ministry of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions held a Coordination Meeting to Accelerate Development in Underdeveloped Regions on Wednesday (25/2/2026).
The meeting was attended by Minister of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions, Yandri Susanto, Deputy Minister of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions, Ahmad Riza Patria, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Akhmad Wiyagus, Governor of North Sumatra, Bobby Nasution, and officials from other ministries/agencies.
In addition, regional heads whose areas fall into the 3T (Underdeveloped, Frontier, and Outermost) category also attended the forum.
The Director General of Acceleration of Underdeveloped Regions Development at the Ministry of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions, Samsul Widodo, in his speech, revealed that as many as 30 regencies in Indonesia are still in the underdeveloped category.
“There are still 30 underdeveloped regencies. So, these 30 underdeveloped regencies are spread across several provinces,” said Samsul.
The rest are located in several provinces in Papua, including West Papua, Southwest Papua, Papua, South Papua, Papua Mountains, and Central Papua.
Samsul said that the underdeveloped status refers to the 2025–2029 National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) and is calculated based on the Human Development Index (HDI).
The assessment includes dimensions of health, education, decent living standards, the percentage of poor people, and the Village Index.
He explained that the Village Index consists of six dimensions, namely basic services, social, economic, environmental, accessibility, and village governance.
After Samsul, the Regent of North Nias, Amizaro Waruwu, gave a speech. He poured out his heart about his region and a general picture of the other 29 regions.
On this occasion, he also said that he was appointed as the coordinator of underdeveloped regions, as announced by the Ministry of Villages and Underdeveloped Regions.
Amizaro said that his region, along with 29 other regencies in the 3T (Underdeveloped, Frontier, and Outermost) category, has received little attention in the programs of related ministries/agencies.
“We ask that in the future, we receive a recommendation, so that the Ministry/Agency provides space in the position of programs for these 3T (Underdeveloped, Frontier, and Outermost) regions,” said Amizaro.
“Earlier, we spoke briefly with fellow regional heads, we have been around, but in reality, I apologize, Ministry/Agency, I speak frankly, there is almost no value for our 3T regions in your programs. Is that right, friends?” he added.