A new province is born

Indonesias newest province is North Kalimantan, carved out of one of the nations richest
provinces, East Kalimantan. To the north of East Kalimantan, bordering the Malaysian states of
Sabah and Sarawak, a new province Indonesias 34th is in the making.
North Kalimantan was born after the gavel was pounded at a plenary meeting of the House of
Representatives in Jakarta in October.
A little over two months later, across the sea around 1,500 kilometers from the capital, there are
few signs of the provinces existence. In Tanjung Selor, the capital of Bulungan and the proposed
provincial capital, a sign in front of the old regents office reads: Preparations for the North
Kalimantan Gubernatorial Office. The office is a simple low-rise yellow building.
The House bill that authorized the creation of North Kalimantan mandated the home minister to
prepare governmental infrastructure and to appoint an acting governor within nine months.
Bulungan Regent said that the acting governor would have their office in the yellow building,
which sits on about 1.6 hectares in the city. It will be up to the new governor if they want like to
renovate it, he said.
North Kalimantans establishment came as a surprise: A government issued moratorium on the
formation of new autonomous regions in 2009 was effectively flouted by the House. The last
province to be established before North Kalimantan was West Sulawesi in 2004, but new
regencies continued to be created. The government wanted to halt the creation of new provinces
and regencies as the process had been prone to conflict. In 2009, for example, angry protesters
barged into the North Sumatra Legislative Councils chambers, demanding that the body approve
the formation of the province of Tapanuli. The council speakers Abdul Aziz Angkat, died of a
heart attack out of shock.
North Kalimantan comprises four regencies Bulungan, Nunukan, Malinau and Tana Tidung
and Tarakan city.