Pasupati Flyover Changes Name To Prof Mochtar Kusumaatmadja Street

Photo via Antara

JAKARTA - The Pasteur-Surapati (Pasupati) flyover in Bandung, West Java, has officially changed its name to Jalan Prof Mochtar Kusumaatmadja.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil inaugurated the renaming of Jalan Pasupati to Jalan Prof Mochtar Kusumaatmadja in an event that took place at the entrance of the road.

"Why the inauguration today? Because it coincides with State Sovereignty Enforcement Day," said Ridwan Kamil, Monday, March 1, quoted from Antara.

Prof. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja is a Sundanese figure and former lecturer at Padjadjaran University who initiated the concept of Archipelago Insight and fought for its application to the United Nations (UN) through legal and constitutional channels. The United Nations accepted the concept of the Archipelago Insight in 1982.

Ridwan Kamil called Prof Mochtar Kusumaatmadja a West Java figure whose struggle to make Indonesia's territory 2.5 times wider than before.

Indonesia's territory, he continued, became wider after the sea was used as a liaison between islands, not a land divider.

"And this is the struggle of Prof. Muchtar Kusumaatmadja, that's the point of all the most important points. Because in the past, during the Dutch era, the calculation was only three miles from the coast," he said.

He stated that in the past the inter-island waters were part of international waters so that foreign ships could freely pass through.

Changing the name of Jalan Pasupati to Jalan Prof. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja is part of the effort to fulfill the requirements to propose Prof. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja to get the title of national hero.

"After being inaugurated, this becomes the basis for our complete requirements to propose him to become a national hero," said the Governor.

He explained that the Pasupati Flyover was chosen as the road named after Prof. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja because it became the west and east axes of Bandung City which crossed the north and south axes, namely Jalan Ir H Juanda.

"So it is very fitting that these two warriors cross paths, because it means that these two heroes have discussed and initiated past events. That is my imagination, so the location is very fitting here," he said.

He added that Prof. Mochtar Kusumaatmadja had translated and fought for the realization of Ir H Juanda's ideas.

The governor said that Prof. Muchtar Kusumaatmadja, an academic who had served as minister of justice and minister of foreign affairs, was a proud figure for the people of West Java.

He asked the city and district governments in West Java to use the name Prof. Muchtar Kusumaatmadja as the name of the street in their area.

In addition, the Governor asked the Bandung City Government to find the name of the hero to be used as the name of the Jakarta-Supratman Flyover and the Warrior-Laswi Student Flyover.