Antara News·Indonesia·Saturday, September 12, 2026 at 07:37 AM

NTB proposes regional control of small island management

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Sugiharto Purnama, Fadhlina Sahira, Cindy Frishant

Mataram (ANTARA) - The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Provincial Government has proposed transferring the authority to issue permits for small-island management to regional governments to provide greater investment certainty and accelerate development in archipelagic areas.

Muslim, head of the NTB Marine Affairs and Fisheries Office, said areas such as Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, Gili Air, Moyo Island, and Satonda Island need greater management certainty to ensure that investment and development can proceed optimally.

“If authority is fully delegated to the regions, then permitting authority must also be handed over to them. This ensures investment certainty to advance archipelagic regions across Indonesia, not just in NTB,” Muslim said in Mataram on Saturday.

Muslim said the proposal should be incorporated into the Bill on Archipelagic Regions, which is currently being deliberated by the government, the House of Representatives (DPR), and the Regional Representative Council (DPD).

According to him, clear authority and permitting procedures would allow regional governments to optimize the potential of small islands while driving investment and local economic development.

In addition to transferring permitting authority to regional governments, the NTB provincial government has proposed establishing a management authority for small islands to strengthen coordination among archipelagic regions.

“Ideally, to facilitate cross-coordination with other archipelagic provinces, we should be granted the authority and scope within the archipelagic regions bill to establish a management authority body for small islands,” Muslim said.

He added that establishing such an authority is necessary to clarify the management of small islands, particularly in terms of permits, which have previously faced delays due to overlapping authority with the central government.

The NTB Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) noted that the province’s waters cover approximately 29,000 square kilometers, larger than its land area of around 20 thousand square kilometers.

This geographic profile gives NTB significant potential in the marine and fisheries sectors, including seaweed cultivation, whiteleg shrimp production, and capture and aquaculture fisheries.

The NTB provincial government hopes the Bill on Archipelagic Regions will provide tailored policies to strengthen inter-island connectivity, research and innovation in the blue economy, infrastructure, and spatial and environmental management based on geographic conditions.

Sitti Hilyana, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at the University of Mataram, identified connectivity as a primary challenge facing communities living on small islands.

Access for residents traveling from small islands to the main island remains difficult, while the economic status of communities in these areas is relatively low. Limited connectivity also affects access to education and health care.

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