JAKARTA - The National Strategic Project (PSN) Rempang Eco City and Wiraraja Green Energy, Semiconductor, and Solar Energy Industrial Park (GESEIP) on Galang Island are considered to leave a bigger problem than just the value of investment. Indonesian Audit Watch (IAW) assessed that the project had created a crisis of public trust in state governance.
IAW Founding Secretary Iskandar Sitorus stated that Rempang's failure could not be measured only by the amount of investment that entered but must be seen from legal certainty, public participation, transparency, accountability, risk control, to the level of public confidence in the government.
"Thus, the measure of Rempang's failure lies in one thing, namely: it shows how large investments can lose legitimacy when the state has not resolved the basic rights of citizens," said Iskandar in Jakarta, Monday, July 6.
Iskandar said the main problem with Rempang was not in its investment project but in the sequence of policies which were considered wrong.
The government, according to him, first announced the investment value, potential for employment, and the status of national strategic projects before resolving the issue of land status, community rights, old villages, to the legal basis of the project. This condition is called the weak implementation of the rule of law principle.
"Rempang is not merely a failure of the project. Rempang is a failure of the policy sequence," he said.
Iskandar also said that the involvement of affected communities in the policy-making process was minimal. According to him, residents were not given enough socialization but had to obtain complete information to protect their rights in a tangible way.
On the other hand, government transparency is considered inadequate because the public is more provided with investment values than explanations regarding the basic project documents, land maps, investment cooperation, environmental impact analysis (AMDAL), to compensation schemes.
Iskandar also assessed that the findings of maladministration by the Indonesian Ombudsman should be the basis for a thorough evaluation of project governance.
"In a democratic country, the findings of supervisory institutions should not stop as a note. It must be the basis for correcting policies," he concluded.
Furthermore, Iskandar compared Rempang with a number of major projects in the era of the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo. According to him, the case of COVID-19 social assistance is heavier in terms of corruption, the Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Train related to fiscal risks, Food Estate in terms of planning, and the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) in terms of funding.
However, Rempang is considered to have a different character because it is in direct contact with people's lives.
"Rempang is the most easily read failure of governance because it touches the land, houses, villages, schools, security, and the identity of the community," explained Iskandar.
Therefore, he reminded the government of President Prabowo Subianto not to repeat the pattern of development that prioritizes investment optimism over the completion of legal certainty and protection of community rights.
"Don't repeat the pattern of the previous government that sells investment optimism too quickly, but is slow to resolve legal certainty and the rights of the community," he said.
According to Iskandar, the completion of Rempang needs to be carried out through governance audits, document openness, land rights settlement, implementation of Ombudsman recommendations, and fair consultation with the community.
"The measure of the success of the Prabowo government is not only whether investment continues to come in. The measure of success is whether the state is able to prove that investment can run without sacrificing legal certainty, public rights, and public trust," he concluded.
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