Riau Islands Governor Affirms No Delay In Travel Bubble With Singapore

TANJUNGPINANG - Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad stressed that he had never stated that he had postponed the implementation of the travel bubble or the travel bubble between the Riau Islands and Singapore.

"There is no delay, in fact Riau Islands are very ready to accept foreign tourists," said Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad in Tanjungpinang quoted by Antara, Sunday, October 5.

According to him, the issue of the travel bubble has been discussed long enough between the local government and the central government.

Ansar ensured that President Joko Widodo had instructed Bali and the Riau Islands to immediately open for foreign tourists to travel from several countries as determined by the central government.

Even from the results of discussions with the Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi, he said, the Riau Islands Provincial Government had proposed that airports in Batam and Tanjungpinang be opened immediately.

Likewise, the Tanjungpinang SBP Port, Bintan Telani Bintan Port, and Batam Harbor Bay Port should be opened as soon as possible for foreign tourists.

"The Minister of Transportation wants Batam and Tanjungpinang Airports to be pilot projects to be opened for international flights. Also Tanjungpinang SBP Port, Batam Center Port, because they have been used for PMI's return," he added.

Governor Ansar, one of the proposed tourist sites ready to accept foreign tourists is the Bintan Beach Resort (BBR) in the Lagoi area, Bintan Regency.

The area, he continued, had prepared health protocols such as quarantine locations and PCR machines.

"We encourage the PCR test results for foreign tourists to come out in 1 hour," he said.

Ansar said the decision regarding the Riau Islands tourism area to be opened was made by the central government today, Monday. October 11th.

Likewise, the issue of the COVID-19 condition in Singapore, which is currently high, is a consideration for the central government to discuss.

"Tomorrow (today) there will be an official decision by the central government," said Ansar.