INDONESIAN Engineers Stand Up to Challenge of Building Nusantara from Scratch

Posted by Asia Views | Jan 17, 2023 | 0 |

JakartaGlobe-Jan 16

Engineers from across the archipelago and different disciplines are planning to brainstorm ideas that can help with the development of Indonesia’s new state capital, according to the Indonesian Engineers Association or PII. Work is underway for Indonesia’s plan to relocate its capital from the sinking Jakarta to a lush forest in East Kalimantan. But construction is still at the early stage, and Indonesia has an ambitious goal of making Nusantara a smart forest city. As the government grows more fixated on this new metropolis, PII members will be putting their thinking caps on to support the mega project later this week. “The new capital project has become one of the government’s top priorities. Engineers do play a significant role in making Nusantara a smart forest city, and this begins with basic infrastructure development such as roads, bridges, dams, and sanitation,” PII chairman Danis Hidayat Sumadilaga said at a press briefing in Jakarta on Monday. On Jan. 20-22, hundreds of PII members will rendezvous in Balikpapan, a city in East Kalimantan that is in close proximity to Nusantara. The national conference will primarily zero in on Nusantara development. Each delegate will represent their respective disciplines, among others, architectural engineering and energy engineering. The participants are scheduled to visit the “ground zero” of Nusantara. News outlet Detik reported that 29 infrastructure development-related projects — including the presidential palace and toll road — in Nusantara already had their contracts signed. These inked contracts were worth a total of Rp 25 trillion (about $1.7 billion), and are slated for completion in 2024. According to Danis, thousands of engineers are taking part in the said contracts: be it as supervisors, planners, or more focused on the implementation aspect. Read more at: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesian-engineers-stand-up-to-challenge-of-building-nusantara-from-scratch

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

INDONESIAN Engineers Stand Up to Challenge of Building Nusantara from Scratch

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