Riau Islands Budgets IDR 25 Billion To Build The 2025 Language Monument

Riau Islands Province Monument (Kepri) in Tanjungpinang City. (Between-Nikolas P)

The Riau Islands (Kepri) Provincial Government (Pemprov) has budgeted IDR 25 billion for the 2025 fiscal year for the construction of language monuments on Penangkat Island, Tanjungpinang City.

Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad said the language monument would be built on an area of 2,000 square meters with a total budget requirement of around Rp90 billion.

"We have budgeted Rp25 billion through the 2025 Riau Islands Regional Budget, the remaining Rp65 billion, hopefully supported by the central government," he said in Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands, Tuesday, September 10, which was confiscated by Antara.

Ansar admitted that he had submitted proposals for APBN funds for the construction of the language monument to the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Ma'ruf Amin and the Director General of Human Settlements of the Ministry of PUPR Diana Kusumastuti during the inauguration of Puan Encik Perak's new market in Tanjungpinang City on Monday 9 September.

According to Ansar, the construction of the language monument is urgently needed, because it is an identity in preserving culture and preserving the history that has been engraved.

The history that Ansar meant was the struggle of the most famous figure, namely an intellectual and writer of the Riau-Lingga Sultanate in the 19th century who was also one of the National Heroes from Riau Islands Province, Raja Ali Haji.

"King Ali Haji has contributed greatly to uniting the nation through the presence of the Indonesian language which was the forerunner through the work of Gurindam 12 in 1847 and the language knowledge book in 1858," he said.

Ansar also quoted the speech of the 4th President of the Republic of Indonesia KH Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) in Pekanbaru on April 29, 2000, expressing the appreciation and appreciation of the Republic of Indonesia for the services and struggle of King Ali Haji in uniting the nation and creating the national language, namely Indonesian.

"The momentum that we will build will later be a sign that the origin of Indonesian is from Penangkatan Island," said Ansar.

Ansar is optimistic that the construction of language monuments can be realized in 2025. The existence of this monument is also believed to increase the attractiveness of domestic and foreign tourists to come to Penangkat Island, a historic island that is famous to foreign countries.