Tual City of Kei Islands is located in Maluku Province of Indonesia. The area is very rich with marine resources and white sands that make up wonderful views. Despite this potential, Tual faces various challenges, among many are slum, poverty, and scarce job opportunity. Statistics of 2018 showed that Tual is listed as a city with the widest urban slum area. Indonesia Central Bureau of Statistic also recorded the unemployment rate in Maluku is the highest in the country (2017). Furthermore, poor human settlement is actually the root of poverty, as 7 out of 14 poverty indicators set by National Development Agency of Indonesia (Bappenas) highly relate with settlement (minimum size per person, type of floor, height from wall to roof, etc).
As the existing policy and programme to alleviate poverty then was not enough to overcome the challenges faced, Mayor Adam Rahayaan decided to introduce an innovative solution through Tiga Tuntas/Three T (read Triti in local language) programme. Triti in local language means programme to eradicate three urban challenges covering slum area (Tuntas Kumuh, no slum), unemployment (Tuntas Tuna Karya, no unemployment), and poverty (Tuntas Kemiskinan, cno poverty). The programme was launched in 2018 in line with the Mid-term National Development Plan (2014-2019) as well as Province and Local Development Plan.
The Tuntas Kumuh (slum eradication) programme is implemented by the local government in close collaboration with national government and private sector through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The partnership aims to ensure that each settlement fulfils the minimum standard set by Bappenas. The house, after renovated, is painted rainbow to show its participation. The rainbow colour was selected in consideration of local history and the area became known as rainbow area. Up to 2019, it has been recorded that 566 families in 16 slum areas have received positive impact from the programme.
Due to its positive impact, local government of Tual City decided to prioritise the implementation of slum area eradication. At the early stage of the programme, local government under the leadership of Mayor Adam Rahayaan has also connected with other divisions in local office; including Local Office of Housing, Local Office of Fisheries, Local Office of Tourism, Local Office of Agriculture, Local Office of Trade and Industry to make path for the other T (eradication) programme, namely poverty and unemployment.
This innovative idea has received a recognition in Innovative Local Leader Forum 2018, organised by one of leading media companies in Indonesia. This best practice implemented by Tual City shows good example of SDGs localisation: achieving local and national development goals that also align with global goals. Moreover, it is conducted through local initiatives and involved collaboration with various stakeholders.
