Government to set up agency for border areas

JAKARTA: The government will soon establish a national agency to manage border areas, it says.

"The agency will officially be launched within 100 days," Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi told Tempointeraktif news agency at his office last weekend.

The Legal and Human Rights Ministry is now drafting the regulation for the agency.

Gamawan said the agency would establish programs to resolve conflicts not only between Indonesian citizens but also between Indonesians and citizens of neighboring countries.

The Home Ministry would be responsible for coordinating and synchronizing the regulations with other government offices, such as the Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Political, and Security Affairs, the Foreign Ministry, the National Police, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the Office of the State Secretary.

The former West Sumatra Governor said that disputes over border areas took place in many border areas in Indonesia. - JP