PONTIANAK, thekabarnews.com—A 2025 speech by West Kalimantan Deputy Governor Krisantus Kurniawan has resurfaced on social media. It has renewed public discussion about whether investment and natural-resource exploitation deliver sufficient benefits to communities across the province.

Krisantus delivered the remarks while opening the 39th Pekan Gawai Dayak at Rumah Radakng in Pontianak on May 20, 2025. The West Kalimantan Provincial Administration confirmed the event which celebrated the Dayak harvest tradition and promoted cultural preservation.

In the circulating footage, Krisantus described infrastructure conditions he encountered while traveling through Kapuas Hulu. Notably, he mentioned numerous bridges that he considered inadequate.

He then questioned how much major investments had improved the welfare of people living near resource-producing areas.

His speech also contained a stark warning to the central government. Krisantus said West Kalimantan could become “the next Papua and Aceh” if authorities continued to allow social injustice.

Krisantus made the remark in its stated context. He used the comparison to warn about alienation and public dissatisfaction arising from persistent inequality. He did not present it as a formal policy proposal or an explicit call for separatism.

Government data support broader concerns about unequal access to infrastructure, although they do not independently verify every example Krisantus cited.

During deliberations on the 2025–2029 regional development plan, the provincial administration reported that 64.01 percent of provincial roads met its “serviceable” standard.

It also recorded adequate sanitation access at 50.42 percent and identified 54 villages without internet coverage. The same report said agriculture, forestry and fisheries contributed 21.73 percent of the provincial economy. Mining and quarrying accounted for 5.11 percent.

West Kalimantan development plan data also showed that 46.03 percent of working-age residents depended on agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

Krisantus separately criticized the limited local contribution of mining operations during the 2025 Gawai Dayak.

He argued that companies extracted resources without creating adequate added value. They did not maintain a sufficient local presence for oversight and tax collection.

ANTARA reported that he cited more than 600 mining companies operating in the province.

West Kalimantan’s economy reached Rp328.57 trillion in 2025, according to Statistics Indonesia’s provincial office. Separately, BPS recorded 322,540 people living below the poverty line in September 2025, equivalent to 5.97 percent of the population.

The resurfaced speech has therefore revived a central policy question. How can governments convert investment and natural-resource revenue into roads, bridges and essential services that residents can experience directly, particularly in remote districts?