Visiting The National Border In Entikong To Solve Various Problems

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

JAKARTA - The Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Professional Team directly went to the Entikong State Border Post (PLBN) in West Kalimantan, to hear directly the aspirations of migrant workers and all elements of border officers.

KSP Main Expert Ade Irfan Pulungan emphasized that the state will always be there to listen to complaints and input from the community, including those in border areas.

"The border area is receiving serious attention from the government of President Jokowi. Therefore, we ensure that the presence of KSP in Entikong is to solve problems in the border area," said Irfan in a KSP press release in Jakarta, Friday, November 12.

He said that the findings obtained from the field verification at the Entikong PLBN will be reported in a coordination meeting with the relevant ministries/agencies.

"Mr. President has built supporting facilities around the PLBN to encourage the economic growth of the local community. Now we will make sure that the welfare and security in this border area are really fulfilled," Irfan said as quoted by Antara.

PLBN Entikong itself is the first land border crossing post in Indonesia which began operating on October 1, 1989. President Joko Widodo instructed the revitalization of this post directly and visited PLBN Entikong three times in 2015, 2016, and 2019.

The head of state also emphasized that infrastructure development and fulfillment of welfare were not only centered in Java, but started from the periphery including from the region. Therefore, the government emphasizes that the process of developing border areas will not stop.

Meanwhile, the Post Coordinator of the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) Entikong Angga Atmajaya reported that many Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia were in and out of Malaysia through the forest, due to the lockdown policy in Malaysia.

"It becomes our homework because the forest path is very wide and the ability of the Pamtas task force is very limited," said Angga.

He said that in a pandemic situation, the health status of people who cross national borders illegally tends to be undetected. Thus, increasing the potential for the spread of COVID-19 in border areas. On the other hand, health facilities in Entikong are still very limited.

"Never mind the handling of COVID-19, delivery facilities, especially for migrant workers who pass by, still need the government's attention," explained Angga.

For example, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in a meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, some time ago agreed to open a travel corridor for the two countries.

However, for the initial stage, the opening will be carried out only for the Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Lumpur-Bali-Kuala Lumpur travel corridors.