Airport construction in outermost area: Uniting Indonesia starting from the farthest region

This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.

Bisnis Indonesia: Pembangunan bandara di wilayah terluar: Merajut ‘merah putih’ dari titik terjauh

16 October 2019

By: Rinaldi M. Azka

It is hard to find reception. A phrase that is first uttered by anyone who gets off Wings Air flight IW-1228 at Letung Airport in Anambas Islands, Riau Islands.

Being one of the outermost islands of Indonesia, Letung Island, located in Jemaja Timur District, lacks internet reception for its residents. Even though, Palapa Ring satellite has just been launched.

After the independence of Indonesia, the island was visited by former Vice President Mohammad Hatta to state that the area is part of NKRI (Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia). Mohammad Hatta Monument stands tall on the island as a symbol for the significance of the area.

Susi (43), a resident of Bandung, passenger of ATR 72-500 aircraft, is one of the residents who complains about the condition. She flew from Batam to Letung Airport to reach Termpa Islands, which is still part of Anambas Islands.

She said that the airport had become a route for connectivity to the outermost areas of the island. “After this, I will travel by sea to Tarempa [Islands], which will take 2 hours” she explained to Bisnis on Monday (15/10).

The airport is a gate which provides access towards 26 inhabited islands out of the total 255 islands in the Anambas Islands area.

The airport is very much needed as sea travel takes a long time. Travel to the nearest port in Tanjung Pinang Riau Islands takes 8 hours by ferry, if the tide and the weather are friendly.

“The airport is a dream come true. There are certain months when [ferries] cannot travel, [as there are] high tides and strong winds,” Riau Islands Acting Governor Isdianto said to Bisnis.

Commercial airline flights that reach the islands arrive 5 times in a week, which is on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. On Sunday, flights are carried out two times on Tanjung Pinang-Anambas route and Batam-Anambas route. Besides that, Anambas Islands holds excellent nature tourism potential. There is an abundance of fisherman villages, and white sand coastline spans 18 km on Letung Island.

Moreover, hundreds of uninhabited islands are ready to be explored. They also provide promising underwater tourism.

Isdianto mentioned that Riau Islands consist of 96% water and 4% land. “Now, we talk about tourism everywhere. This is one of the infrastructures to support tourism,” he explained.

Underwater tourism is one of the favourite tourisms in outermost areas. The provincial and the district governments hold Padang Melang festival each year in the seventh month. Moreover, there is a famous tourism destination, which is Bawah Island tourism. The government proposed for the area to be a tourism special economic zone (SEZ).

Andi (38), Anambas resident, stated about the effect of the airport to the economy of the area. According to him, since the start of Letung Airport operation in 2016, economic activities, especially tourism, are increasingly active.

“When the festival is held, there are many foreigners who come. The festival is held for 4 days. The preparation takes 2 months,” he said.

The man who owns a cargo transport business that utilises sea transportation to Tanjung Pinang seldom operates his ship for tourism.

Head of Dabo Singkem Airport Andi Hendra Suryaka explained that this was an area with large potential as it was part of the triangle between Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

He mentioned that sea travel to Malaysia was faster than to Tanjung Pinang as it only took 3 hours. This area is a national defence line to face other surrounding areas.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, in his first visit to inaugurate Letung Airport, asserted that outermost islands were areas that must be maintained. Moreover, the government is asserting its Indonesia-centred vision.

The best way to maintain the areas is by improving economy in the area so that its residents feel like they are part of NKRI.
 

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