City bylaws needed for asset takeover<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Experts are urging the city administration to
\ndraft city bylaws in a bid to take over various valuable assets
\nin the capital ahead of next month's rolling out of regional
\nautonomy.<\/p>\n
Legal expert Rafiuddin Hamarung, who was one of the drafters
\nof Law No.22\/1999 on regional autonomy, said the city
\nadministration should not wait for the central government to
\nissue a government regulation concerning the assets.<\/p>\n
\"The regional autonomy law and Law No.34\/1999 on the capital's
\nstatus could be used as the legal basis for city bylaws on the
\nassets, so that the city administration could take over the
\nmanagement of those assets,\" Rafiuddin told a seminar here on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso and many top city officials have repeatedly
\nstated their intention of taking over the Senayan sports complex
\nand the vast business and residential area being developed on the
\nsite of the former Kemayoran Airport, both in Central Jakarta,
\nahead of the putting into effect of regional autonomy nationwide
\non Jan. 1.<\/p>\n
These valuable assets, including recreational parks, toll
\nroads and important public facilities, are currently managed by
\nthe central government through the State Secretariat, and by
\nprivate institutions, particularly those linked to the family of
\nformer president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, to draft such city bylaws the city administration
\nshould have a discussion first with the central government or
\nState Secretariat about the sharing of responsibilities between
\nthem,\" Rafiuddin said.<\/p>\n
He further proposed several possibilities in setting the basic
\nrules for managing the assets so as to prevent confusion or
\noverlapping of responsibilities.<\/p>\n
\"For example, the central government could reserve the power
\nto plan the development of these assets while the city
\nadministration would implement the plans,\" Rafiuddin said.<\/p>\n
For assets that could be a source of dispute between two local
\nadministrations, such as Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
\nwhich is located in the Tangerang administrative region,
\nRafiuddin suggested that an agreement should be drawn up between
\nthe two administrations.<\/p>\n
\"The agreement should clearly state what comes under the
\nauthority of the capital and what comes under Tangerang's
\nauthority. Of course, in the case of the airport, the central
\ngovernment will still have some authority and this should also be
\ncovered by the agreement,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Another possibility that could be applied to all valuable
\nassets would be to establish city-owned companies to manage them.
\nEach local administration would then have a share in the profits
\nrealized by the assets.<\/p>\n
\"The point is that there should be clear rules of the game on
\nhow to manage these places before the implementation of regional
\nautonomy,\" Rafiuddin remarked.<\/p>\n
National legislators have already stated their political
\nsupport for the city administration in laying claim to such
\nassets saying that this was in line with Law No. 22\/1999 on
\nregional autonomy which stated that all assets located in a
\nregion should be under the authority of the respective regional
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
Currently, only a small fraction of the hundreds of millions
\nof rupiah collected every day by the operators of toll roads
\nacross the capital goes into the city budget. The same applies to
\nthe huge sums earned by the operators of the Tanjung Priok port.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Bay Reclamation Authority chief Mochamad Sidarta told
\nthe seminar that his authority planned to establish an integrated
\ncoastal management agency that would involve the sharing of
\nresponsibilities as between the city administration and the
\ncentral government.<\/p>\n
\"We understand that the city may not be able to take care of
\nthe coast alone because the implementation of regional autonomy
\nneeds a process, and we still need the central government for
\nmany things. That is why we plan to set up an agency,\" Sidarta
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
\"We have been discussing this for some months now and
\nhopefully Governor Sutiyoso and Minister of Transportation and
\nTelecommunications Agum Gumelar will finally agree to the idea,\"
\nSidarta said. (dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-bylaws-needed-for-asset-takeover-1447893297",
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