Govt: Only one time zone in Indonesia

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BOGOR - Government plans to convert Indonesian three time zones, West Indonesian Time (WIB), Central Indonesian Time (WITA), and East Indonesian Time (WIT), into one through GMT+8 program to increase the economic competitive and create bureaucratic efficiency. "We will convert WIB, WITA, and WIT. WITA or GMT+8 is planned to be the standard," the Head of Public Relation and Promotion of the Committee on the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (KP3EI), Edib Muslim, said on Saturday in workshop entitled "MP3EI internalization to the press" in Santika Hotel Bogor.

He said, the convertion could increase national productivity which was only 190 million citizens in WIB zone to 240 million. "A different time between the three zones in Indonesia is not effective. For example, trade time between WIB and WIT. If trade transaction in Jakarta starts from 09.00 WIB and ends at 17.00 WIB, the effective time to conduct trade activity in WIB and WIT zones is only four hours," he said.

The convertion, Muslim said, was not only to increase the bureaucratic performance from Sabang to Merauke. "The uniting is also for increasing nation competitiveness in economics, politics, and even ecology," he said. With GMT+8, the residents of east and central Indonesian will have more time to do transaction with people living in west Indonesia.