Kepahiang is a regency in Bengkulu Province of Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra, and was created on 25 February 2003 by splitting off the areas of the former southern districts of Rejang Lebong Regency. It covers an area of 710.11 km2, of which a high percentage (27%) is still forest. It had a population of 124,865 at the 2010 Census and 149,737 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 153,995. The regency seat is Kepahiang town. The local population consists of various ethnic groups such as Rejang, Serawai, Javanese, Lembak and Sundanese, among which Rejang forms the majority in Kepahiang.
The Regency of Kepahiang is rich in natural resources including gold, coal, geothermal energy resources, gemstones as well as a range of agricultural, aquacultural and forest products. These include rice, oil- and coconut palms, coffee, tea, corn, wood, natural rubber and pepper, as well as various types of fruits and locally bred fish specimens and products.
The local government of Kepahiang operates several development projects to achieve improvements in the sector of agriculture, energy supply and education. Some of these initiatives gained nationwide attention and were implemented by the central government in Jakarta on a national scale.
Besides the formerly mentioned potentials, Kepahiang has significant tourism potential, which remains largely untapped. It is one of the official development goals to foster tourism in Kepahiang.
History
Colonial rule
During the colonial rule of the Dutch in Indonesia, the city of Kepahiang was the capital of the regency of Rejang Lebong, which is a neighboring regency of Kepahiang today. Kepahiang remained the capital during the 3.5 years of Japanese rule in Indonesia. In the cause of the independence war and Indonesia's declaration of independence on 17 August 1945, Kepahiang became the regional center for Indonesian organisations, the independence movement in the region and its military forces. Due to this fact, the Dutch targeted and destroyed the entire administrative infrastructure in Kepahiang during an attempt to regain power over the region in 1948. The mayors office, administrative buildings, post offices, telecommunication centres and police stations were annihilated completely.
In 1949, the local administration was coerced to relocate itself into the forest and was not able to return to Kepahiang as the infrastructure was not existing any more. Because of this, the administration had to move to the city of Curup, which provided sufficient infrastructure at that time. In 1956, Curup was declared the new capital of the regency of Rejang Lebong and Kepahiang finally lost its prior position as the administrative center.
Reformation in 1998 to present
In the context of political and administrative reforms in Indonesia that started in 1998, Kepahiang had a realistic chance to become an independent regency. In 1999 a firm proposal was made to transform Kepahiang into such an independent regency, that did no longer belong to Rejang Lebong. The people of Kepahiang supported this by forming an organisation, namely the Panitia Persiapan Kabupaten Kepahiang (PPKK), which fostered the realisation of this project. In 2002 the PPKK handed over their proposals to respective regional and national authorities. This was accepted and finally ratified by General Hari Sabarno, who served as the Minister of Interior at that time, and came into effect at 7 January 2004.
Since then Kepahiang has had four local administrations under three different regents.
The newly formed regency progressed socially and economically since then at high pace. Its administration (4th period) received several honours from the central government in Jakarta and managed that locally applied development concepts were adapted by the government and implemented on a national scale. Kepahiang adopted a rather sustainable approach avoiding huge monocultural plantations such as oilpalm plantations. It depends on its sensitive natural environment and understand that it has to maintain and protect it properly in order to achieve long-lasting success.
Crest
The pentagonal frame of Kepahiang's crest reflects its territorial entity, as well as the Pancasila doctrine taught in Indonesia. The crest further contains elements that reflect certain natural and cultural characteristics of Kepahiang.
In the upper part of the crest there is the contour of mountains, illustrating that Kepahiang is a mountainous regency. Below that, one can see a wavelike symbol signifying Kepahiang's abundant water resources. The blue point between the waves is a symbol of the day Kepahiang became an independent regency.