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Border areas can become primer drivers of Indonesia’s economy: Ministry
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Locals undertake their daily activities in a market in Entikong, West Kalimantan, which borders with Sarawak, Malaysia. (Tempo/-)
T
he Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Ministry is striving to develop border areas where investors can put their investments, making them the prime drivers of Indonesia’s economy.
The ministry’s special region development director general Suprayoga Hadi said the government was committed to developing big border posts, where people could settle and create economic potential.
He further explained that in Entikong, a border post in West Kalimantan, which borders on Sarawak, Malaysia, Indonesian workers of various ethnicities, including Bugis and Banjar people from South Sulawesi and South Kalimantan respectively, usually brought their all family members there.
"Many of those people work in Malaysia, but they bring their families to stay in Entikong and send their children to school there. They visit their families in Entikong once a week, bringing them money they earn in Malaysia,” Suprayoga told The Jakarta Post at his office in Jakarta on Monday. If such a situation could be continuously maintained, there would be more skilled human resources in Indonesian border areas and this would be a good investment for the future, he said.
"Although we cannot develop prime infrastructure such as roads, since their development is the responsibility of the Public Works [and Public Housing] Ministry, we will build supporting infrastructure such as sanitation and solar cell electricity so the [border] areas can be developed further," Suprayoga said.
The government through the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry is currently carrying forward developments in several border areas. Nine border posts are to be finished by the end of 2016. They comprise Motaain, Motamasin, Oepoli and Wini in East Nusa Tenggara, Aruk, Nanga Badau and Entikong in West Kalimantan and Skow and Waris in Papua. (ebf)
