Jakarta. BP Batam, the city’s development agency, said that they hoped the public would not get easily provoked by rumors about Rempang.

The Rempang eco-city project has been in the spotlight. The project has been subject to rumors, with the latest coming from former minister Rizal Ramli, according to BP Batam. The agency wrote in a press release that Rizal had told reporters in Sembulang that Chinese President Xi Jinping had asked President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to evict everyone from the Rempang island. 

BP Batam immediately denied Rizal’s claims, saying that the Rempang Eco-City was listed as one of Indonesia’s national strategic projects. This is as seen in the 2023 regulation issued by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, according to BP Batam’s spokesperson Ariastuty Sirait. 

Ariastuty said that investors could only use 2,370 hectares out of the total 17,600 hectares.

“For the initial stage of the investment plans, only four kampongs are affected,” Ariastuty was quoted as saying in a recent press statement. 

Ariastuty added that 961 families would have to move in the first phase of the project. 

“There is no need to raise these issues again, especially if such statements aim to divide us and disrupt the conduciveness of Batam city,” Ariastuty said.

“Just like what the BP Batam chief has said, the public must not get provoked by rumors. We need to absorb the information well before we share it on social media. We need to stay united,” Ariastuty said.