By: Rika Prasatya )*
The Archipelago Student Dormitory (AMN) is a forum for uniting students from various ethnicities, languages, cultures and religions who come from various regions in Indonesia and from various universities.
AMN was established based on Presidential Regulation Number 106 of 2021 concerning Archipelago Student Dormitories. The establishment of AMN aims to build a sense of love for the nation and country among students from various tertiary institutions throughout the territory of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) and prepare human resources with quality, integrity and national character.
The Head of the East Java Settlement Infrastructure Center, Directorate General of Cipta Karya, Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), M. Reva Sastrodiningrat said that the construction of the AMN in Surabaya began work on September 17 2021 and was completed according to the contract date of May 14 2022. The implementation of the construction is being carried out by contractors PT Nindya Karya (Persero) Tbk and PT Parigraha Konsultan as Management Consultants with a contract value of IDR 95.4 billion.
Apart from Surabaya, AMN will also be built in 6 other cities/regencies, namely South Jakarta, DKI Jakarta Province, Bantul Regency, Yogyakarta Special Province, Malang and Surabaya City, East Java Province, Makassar City, South Sulawesi Province, and Minahasa Regency, North Sulawesi Province. In the future, AMN will be granted and managed by the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) together with the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud).
BIN and the Ministry of Education and Culture will work together in the management and guidance that will be carried out at AMN. BIN, which is currently led by Police General (Purn) Prof. Dr. Budi Gunawan, SH, M.Sc. is an Indonesian non-ministerial government agency tasked with carrying out government tasks in the intelligence sector.
This is the basis for BIN to foster student residents of AMN in Surabaya. AMN Surabaya is also used for organizing activities to prevent the spread of radicalism. BIN is expected to be able to internalize the values of tolerance to all students living in AMN.
This is one form of BIN’s presence as a representative of the Government to ensure that all students and academic groups are not easily joined by radicalism.
Meanwhile, the Central Executive of the Indonesian Christian Student Movement (PP GMKI) , Jefri Irawan Gultom supports the construction of AMN built by the government in several regions. As a means of uniting the nation’s children, AMN must be put to good and positive use, as a forum for self-development in preparation for entering the world of work or the wider world of society. The existence of AMN is also an opportunity for Papuan students to become more easily recognized for their achievements in academics, sports and the arts.
The hostel, which was built with the concept of a green building, will not only be used as a place to live. This is because the government has also equipped a number of learning support facilities. These include language laboratories, libraries, workshop spaces, art parks and productive gardens. Other facilities such as places of worship to Covid-19 isolation rooms have also been prepared.
*) The author is an LSISI Contributor
