Viva Yoga Proposes Opening New Transmigration Areas in Kuansing
Acting Regent of Kuansing Muklisin, during an audience with Deputy Minister of Transmigration Viva Yoga Mauladi at the Makarti Building, Ministry of Transmigration office in Kalibata, Jakarta, on 21 July 2026, highlighted that 36.84 per cent of the regency’s 1,588.906 km of roads require attention. The problematic infrastructure also spans former transmigration sites. “Unpaved roads are destroyed when it rains and dusty when it’s hot. Therefore, support and assistance from the Ministry of Transmigration is needed,” Muklisin said in a written statement on Thursday, 23 July 2026. This year, the Kuansing regency government is seeking assistance to build 78.99 km of roads.
Viva Yoga welcomed Muklisin and several heads of departments from the regency. He explained that of the 154 transmigration areas established by ministerial decree, the only one in Riau Province is on Pulau Rupat in Bengkalis Regency. He acknowledged that Kuansing contains transmigration locations in Simandolak, Teluk Kuantan, Taluk Kuantan, Lipat Kain, and Singingi. “In total, there are 27 settlement units and 12,301 families,” Viva said. The transmigration programme carried out in the 1980s successfully created new growth centres, with the transmigrants and their descendants now pursuing various professions and occupations. “Regent Muklisin himself is a child of a transmigrant,” Viva Yoga revealed.
Because the status of these locations is already ‘SP serah’ or handed over and the transmigration sites have developed, authority no longer lies with the Ministry of Transmigration, meaning the ministry cannot directly assist with budgeting through the state budget (APBN). “Nevertheless, historically the Ministry of Transmigration still bears a responsibility,” he stated. Viva Yoga said the complaints regarding roads would be conveyed and recommended to the relevant ministry, the Ministry of Public Works (PU). “What was conveyed in this meeting will be recommended to the Ministry of Public Works,” he stressed.
In developing transmigration areas, the Ministry of Transmigration frequently synergises with other ministries, such as cooperating with the Ministry of Public Works for physical infrastructure development. This differs from the New Order era, when the Ministry of Transmigration built everything in transmigration areas itself, from roads, agricultural and livestock needs, dams, to other matters related to physical and human development. Viva Yoga suggested that if the Kuansing regency government wishes to receive direct assistance from the Ministry of Transmigration, it should submit a proposal for a new transmigration area. He noted that many regents are doing this, and proposing a transmigration area is widely acknowledged as a development solution for regions. The suggestion received a positive response from the Kuansing Regent, as several areas frequently suffer from flooding of the Kuantan River, necessitating local transmigration. “However, if you wish to propose a new transmigration area, the land provided must be clean, clear, and free,” Viva concluded.