IKN Made Malaysia And Indonesia Have New Border Entrances In East Kalimantan

Illustration of the Indonesia-Malaysia border gate. (Photo via ANTARA/Jessica Helena Wuysang)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs is finalizing the determination of a new entrance between their country and Indonesia in East Kalimantan. This cannot be separated from the construction of the capital city of the archipelago.

Malaysian Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the new border was one of the things discussed by the two countries through the Cross-Border Agreement.

"We will have a new border with the archipelago," said Saifuddin as quoted by Antara via Bernama, Saturday, February 18.

He added that the finalization of the Cross-Border Agreement is expected to be completed soon. For this reason, the Malaysian Ministry of Home Affairs continues to work to do so.

He said there were three components to be finalized, namely identifying entry points in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia, the area to be used in the agreement, as well as the category of the population around the entrance.

According to Saifuddin, negotiations were carried out on schedule. If there is an official visit from Indonesian President Joko Widodo to Malaysia this year, one of the important components is the signing of the agreement.

Indonesia has at least seven National Border Posts (PLBN) in Kalimantan. Three of them are in West Kalimantan, while four are in North Kalimantan.

The Cross-Border Posts in West Kalimantan are PLBN Entikong in Sanggau, PLBN Nanga Badau in Kapuas Hulu and PLBN Aruk in Sambas.

Meanwhile, in North Kalimantan, there will be the Sei Pancang Integrated PLBN in North Sebatik, the Long Midang Integrated PLBN, and the Labang PLBN in Nunukan. As well as the Long Nawang PLBN in Malinau Regency.

The fourth development is regulated in Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2019 concerning the Acceleration of Development of 11 Integrated PLBN and Supporting Infrastructure Facilities in Border Areas.