T

he Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) is making efforts to prevent the closure of a Vietnamese refugee camp on Galang island, as requested by the Vietnamese government.

The Foreign Ministry and the Culture and Tourism Ministry are slated to visit the island in August to conduct a feasibility study in order to give the Vietnamese an update on the current condition of the former refugee camp, which has since become a tourist attraction in Batam.

BIDA spokesman Dwi Djoko Wiwoho told The Jakarta Post on Friday that representatives from the ministries would visit the camp on Aug. 5 to seek input and make observations, and consider whether it would be appropriate or not to agree to the Vietnamese government's request to close the place.

"In principle, the BIDA does not want the former refugee camp to be closed because tour operators, local residents, visitors and a number of local communities feel like they already own the place.

However, as this involves a government to government relationship, we will rely on the central government to decide on the policy," Djoko said.

After the Foreign Ministry and Culture and Tourism Ministry's visit to Batam, a meeting will be held with the Vietnamese ambassador in Jakarta to discuss the matter further.

"I believe the Foreign Ministry will make efforts to prevent the camp from being closed and will attempt to convince the Vietnamese government of this by means of discussions with their ambassador," Djoko said.

He added Vietnam had requested the closure of the former refugee camp following a reunion between former camp refugees from various countries on Galang Island in 2005.

"However, the Vietnamese government has not set a time limit for the BIDA to close the former refugee camp," Djoko said.

Recently, tour operators in Batam expressed their opposition to the government's planned closure of the camp, on the grounds that it would remove one of Batam's tourist attractions which is famous among both domestic and foreign visitors.

The Indonesian Tour Operators' Association Batam chapter chairman Kamsa Bakri recently told the Post of his disappointment over the government's plan to close the tourist attraction.

"Closing the refugee camp would be like cutting off the income flow of the tour operators in Batam. If the place is bringing benefits to the area, then why don't they just let it be, or maybe the government should improve the place instead," Kamsa said.

He said his group would reject the planned closure of the former camp as it would cut short visits made by foreign and domestic tourists visiting Batam because the number of tourist attractions would be less. The former refugee camp is one of the places that draws the highest number of visitors.

"We also disagree with the prohibition on promoting the camp overseas to attract more visitors," Kamsa said.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce Batam chapter head Nada Faza Soraya said the camp was important to tour operators who could promote it to domestic and foreign visitors and there was no intention of exploiting the gloomy past of the Vietnamese government.