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Govt sees common ground between investors, locals in Rempang
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Riot police stand by on Sept. 11, 2023, as Rempang Island residents protest in Batam, Riau Islands. The residents expressed their rejection of the local administration's plan to relocate them to another part of the island for the construction of the Rempang Eco-City megaproject. (Antara/Teguh Priatna)
T
he government says it will accommodate Rempang Island residents' demands in a way that is acceptable to investors to move on with the troubled megaproject in Batam, Riau Islands.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, the government was faced either enforcing the eviction of locals, which could taint its human rights image, or opting for a soft approach that could hurt investor confidence.
Based on comments from Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia, the government will opt for the latter, pushing back a Sept. 28 deadline for clearing the land.
Bahlil said in a press briefing on Monday that the government, on the instructions of the President, was willing to meet demands that were expressed in a meeting with locals, the first of which pertains to the relocation.
Initially, the residents were to be moved to Galang Island to the southeast of Rempang, but that has reportedly been changed to Tanjung Banon, another area on Rempang, just 3 kilometers from the villages impacted by the project.
Second, Bahlil said Jakarta would accommodate Rempang residents’ request to move voluntarily, without force or the involvement of the authorities, even though this means the process will take longer than planned.
He went on to say that both the investors and the government agreed to this, but that there was “a limit” as to how long the process could take. Almost 300 households were already in the process of moving to Tanjung Banon, claimed Bahlil.
