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)