BATAM. The central government plans to make Batam of the Riau Islands Province a separate province in order to end alleged authority disputes between the Batam city administration and the management of the Batam Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

Within the plan, Batam would become a new province governed by a governor who would also become the head of the Batam FTZ.

“Authority disputes between the two parties have not been beneficial for investors or the public. For instance, in the issue of land allocation, the allocation authority is in the hands of the FTZ, but the land will later be managed by the city administration. This is one of the reasons why Batam must become a province,” Law and Human Rights Ministry’s litigation and regulation directorate general director Nasrudin told The Jakarta Post in Batam recently.

He said that the central government has already assembled a team to start planning the creation of Batam province.

The province might come into existence five years after the completion of a two-year of feasibility study.

Meanwhile, Deputy Riau Islands Governor Soeryo Respationo said that his administration has yet to receive any information on the plan.

However, Soeryo said that he would support the idea if it would make the Batam region prosper.

“If it brings a lot of benefits to the people, I will support it. But they [the central government] have to consider the people’s wishes as well,” he said.

When he was asked about any rifts between the Batam FTZ and city administration, he denied them, saying relations went well.

According to Nasrudin, authority disputes between the two parties stemmed from the formation of the city administration under a new regional autonomy law in 1999.

However, since 1971 Batam had been developed as an industrial hub by the Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA), which later became the Batam FTZ. (Fadli)

Editor: Edy Can