Regarding The Sustainability Of PSN Rempang Eco City, Minister Bahlil: Must Go!

Construction Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The construction of the National Strategic Project (PSN) of Rempang Eco City was protested by residents of Rempang, Batam, Riau Islands. This project is considered to threaten the existence of 16 traditional Melayu villages on Pulau Rempang since 1834.

Although the construction of the project was colored by conflict, the Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadali ensured that this project would continue.

Regarding this conflict, Bahlil said there would be socialization for residents of Rempang, Batam, Riau Islands.

"We have to run. We'll see later. We will socialize later," he said after a working meeting with Commission VI of the DPR, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday, September 13.

Bahlil is also optimistic that the conflict that occurs on the island of Rempang will not give a bad image to investors.

"I don't think so. We'll see if it's common dynamics," he explained.

Quoted from the BP Batam page, Rempang Eco City is one of the projects registered in the 2023 National Strategic Program whose construction is regulated in the Regulation of the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Number 7 of 2023 which was ratified on August 28.

The Rempang Eco City project is an integrated industrial, trade, and tourism area aimed at encouraging competitiveness with Singapore and Malaysia.

The project will be worked on by PT Makmur Elok Graha (MEG) with an investment target of IDR 381 trillion by 2080. PT MEG is a colleague of BP Batam and the Batam City Government.

Later, the company will help the government attract foreign and local investors in economic development on the island of Rempang.

To work on Rempang Eco City, PT MEG was given an area of around 17,000 hectares covering the entire island of Rempang and Subang Mas Island. The government is also targeting the development of Rempang Eco City to absorb around 306,000 workers by 2080.

However, the construction of the project was protested by residents of Rempang by blocking the joint apparatus which will set and measure land on Thursday 7 September.

The violent conflict resulted in injuries and even trauma to local children being triggered by residents' rejection of the project which required around 7,500 local residents to be relocated.