Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil helping his wife, Atalia Praratya, disembark from a boat during a trip to Thousand Islands regency on Nov 10, 2024. - Tempo.co
JAKARTA: Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil visited Thousand Islands regency on Sunday (Nov 10) and promised to elevate tourism there by transforming the islands into an international destination.
"So later, there will be several islands that we will build to be as good as Singapore," Ridwan said while campaigning on Untung Jawa Island, as quoted by tempo.co. Accompanied by his wife, Atalia Praratya, Ridwan also visited the regency’s three other major islands of Kelapa, Panggang and Pramuka.
The former West Java governor acknowledged the region's tourism potential and said he had had a meeting with international investors interested in large-scale investments there.
He recommended granting Thousand Islands the status of special economic zone to facilitate such projects and improve the licensing and taxation processes.
Ridwan told the audience that if tourism flourished, more job opportunities would become available and unemployment would decline.
Ridwan, who is also a former mayor of Bandung, promised to offer English language training to residents.
"God willing, there will be no more unemployment in Thousand Islands if tourism is upgraded to an international level. If residents need to learn English, we will provide training in collaboration with the private sector," said Ridwan, as quoted by idntimes.com.
In addition to tourism, Ridwan pledged to create 1 million jobs and improve educational opportunities, with plans to establish digital schools from at the vocational and high school levels.
He also mentioned a three- to six-month training programme to equip local young people with skills to enter the job market. He also addressed several community concerns, particularly transportation challenges in the Thousand Islands.
Residents said they found it difficult to transport goods to and from the islands.
“The Transportation Agency will handle the solutions. Transjakarta will take care of this,” Ridwan said.
“Transjakarta will have not only a fleet of buses on the road but also fleet of boats in the sea.”
Another pressing issue was access to clean water. Ridwan suggested introducing affordable desalination technology to convert salt water into fresh water, as desalination technology had become more affordable.
He also said he would calculate the amount of fresh water each island required so that the solution could meet residents’ needs. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
