Riau archipelago province bill opposed

Riau archipelago province bill opposed

JAKARTA (JP): A bill proposed by the House of Representatives
to develop the Riau Islands into its own province, separate to
that of mainland Riau, is meeting strong opposition from the
provincial administration and council.

During a hearing here on Monday with the House's Commission II
on legal and home affairs, both Riau Governor Saleh Djasid and
provincial Council speaker Chaidir both argued that dividing the
province into two -- Riau mainland and islands -- would be in
contradiction with the law on regional autonomy and Riau peoples'
aspirations.

Chaidir said the provincial council has already rejected the
proposal during a plenary session on June 9.

"The provincial council can appreciate the idea of developing
the Riau archipelago into a new province but it has decided to
reject it because it is against the law on regional autonomy and
the 1958 agreement on Riau province," Chaidir said during the
hearing.

Chaidir further argued that the House should not be trapped
into fulfilling the aspirations of a small group of people who
want to establish their own province.

He cited an analogy where the House would certainly turn down
independence calls in Aceh and Irian Jaya despite the fact that
many people might support it.

Riau governor Saleh Djasid also contended that the islands
could not separate into their own province unless they received
the support of the provincial administration and council, as
stipulated by the regional autonomy law.

"The idea of the new province is only a political commodity of
certain persons among the local Riau elite in order to advance
their own vested interests," he said.

Saleh hinted that the motivation for separating from mainland
Riau is financial.

"So far, the islands' revenue has increased to Rp 6 billion
over the last three years from Rp 2 billion. It is expected to
reach between Rp 12 billion to Rp 15 billion in the years to
come," he remarked.

The proposed province, which borders with Singapore, Malaysia,
and the Philippines in the South China Sea, consists of the main
islands of Singkep, Lingga, Bintan, Remoang, Galang and Batam. It
would stretch all the way northeast to the Anambas Islands and
the oil and gas rich Natuna Islands.

The islands as a whole are potentially rich with Batam and its
surrounding islands already developed into a bonded zone area,
bauxite found on Bintan Island, granite in Karimun Island along
with oil and gas in Natuna.

Currently the islands are divided into five regencies or
mayoralties with a population of about 600,000.

Saleh warned that a strong protest would also be launched by
the Bengkalis regency, which under the new plan would remain part
of the Riau mainland province.

"Riau contributes 60 percent to the national oil output and 90
percent of that is from Bengkalis," he said.

Saleh charged that the House should first revise the law on
regional autonomy if it wanted to push the bill on establishing
the new province.

However the arguments seemed to fall on deaf ears as the House
commission seemed adamant on pushing the bill through.

Amin Aryoso of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
faction, who chaired the meeting, took note of the objections but
said "the House's committee will go ahead with the bill's
deliberation. The fate of the new province will be determined by
the House in its plenary session".

Amin claimed that the House's initiative to introduce the bill
was taken after listening to aspirations of people living in the
Riau archipelago, and after receiving a green light from the
central government.

He said commission members have personally surveyed the
islands and concluded that the plan to establish a separate
province is both economically and demographically feasible.

"And it gained the support of a majority of local people,"
Amin claimed.

Col. Christine of the Indonesian Military/National Police
faction, said her faction supported the development of the new
province to strengthen defense of the area.

"The region has since long been prone to foreign infiltration
and crimes such as smuggling and piracy," she said. (rms)