BANJARMASIN (TABIRkota) – Indonesia’s parliament has recently passed a bill to relocate South Kalimantan’s provincial capital from Banjarmasin to Banjarbaru, and it has caused a heated controversy.
Mayor of Banjarmasin, Ibnu Sina, said that the relocation of the provincial capital must first go through a series of public examinations.
“Making a regional regulation (Perda) only has to go through a public trial, let alone a bill,” Mr Ibnu said.
He questioned who had proposed the idea of ​​moving the provincial capital of South Kalimantan, because as far as he knew, there had never been any discussion about it.
“There was no aspiration or desire on the relocation of the provincial capital. There was only an agreement to move the provincial government office complex from Banjarmasin to Banjarbaru, and not the relocation of the capital,” Mr Ibnu explained.
The relocation of the provincial capital functions is a project deeply related to the future of a province, its land and its society.
Promotion of the relocation requires residents participation from a wide range of fields, and establishment of a consensus among all the people in the province. (sah)
