Committee established to evaluate regional autonomy<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that the
\ncity administration and City Council would establish a joint
\nworking committee to evaluate and speed up the implementation of
\nregional autonomy, including a handover of the central
\ngovernment's assets.<\/p>\n
\"The team will evaluate state assets, such as the Gelora
\nSenayan sports complex, toll roads, seaports and oil and gas
\nresources in the Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands) marine resort,\"
\nhe told reporters at City Hall.<\/p>\n
Separately, City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo said the
\nestablishment of the committee was initiated by the city
\nadministration, which had an interest in immediate autonomy
\nimplementation.<\/p>\n
\"Why is the central government so slow in implementing the
\nautonomy? Dissatisfied people can take advantage of such a
\ncondition and ask for more than autonomy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso acknowledged that there were different perceptions
\nbetween the regional administrations, including the Jakarta
\nadministration, and the central government on which assets were
\nto be handed over to regional administrations.<\/p>\n
\"All governors will attend a three-day meeting from Thursday
\nto Saturday. Perhaps we'll discuss the matter more intensively at
\nthe meeting,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He repeatedly expressed a desire for the city administration
\nto soon manage the central government's assets as stipulated in
\nArticle 119 of Law No. 22\/1999 on Regional Autonomy.<\/p>\n
\"The Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to hand over the
\nTanjung Priok seaport in North Jakarta to the city
\nadministration. We are still waiting for decisions on Gelora
\nSenayan, the toll roads and the former Kemayoran Airport area,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso, however, denied allegations that he had a strong
\ndesire for the huge revenues from the assets.<\/p>\n
\"It's stipulated in the 1999 regional autonomy law. I'm not
\nlooking for huge revenues. Managing such assets doesn't mean that
\nthe city will always net profits. We may suffer losses,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he said, the team had to study all the assets to
\navoid any bad consequences, citing debt problems.<\/p>\n
\"We don't want to take over someone's debts. At least we start
\nfrom zero, but not the minus line,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The city, as well as other provinces, have waited for
\ninstructions to implement regional autonomy. Jakarta will be the
\nexample on autonomy implementation for other provinces to
\nfollow,\" he added.<\/p>\n
State Minister for Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid said last
\nFriday that the government regulation on the asset handover was
\nscheduled to be declared in February.<\/p>\n
\"I have to consider all related matters as it will influence
\nthe lives of so many people. We have to be careful here,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Ryaas said the regional autonomy laws still needed practical
\nguidelines on which assets were to be handed over to the city
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, we can't hand over the State Palace,\" he said
\njokingly.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the Jakarta administration's demand to manage
\nthe Gelora Senayan sport venues, the minister said it was quite
\ndifficult, saying it was a national sport symbol.<\/p>\n
Most sport activists aired anxiety over the plan to hand over
\nthe sport venues to the city administration.<\/p>\n
The governor, however, pledged to continue maintaining and
\npromoting sport activities in the complex.<\/p>\n
Ryaas said it was also difficult for the city to manage the
\nseaport administration as it was nationally standardized.<\/p>\n
\"The city administration can manage the surrounding areas, but
\nnot the technical issues,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The central government's reluctance to hand over most of its
\nassets to the city administration drew criticism from political
\nobserver Indria Samego, who suspected a hidden political agenda
\nin the case.<\/p>\n
\"Let's see who's behind the Gelora Senayan management. Who's
\nbehind most of the projects related to the state enterprises, be
\nit a seaport or toll roads,\" he told reporters at City Hall.<\/p>\n
\"We know who they are,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Indria urged the central government to soon implement regional
\nautonomy, while citing the law was inadequate and needed to be
\nrefined.<\/p>\n
\"We can implement the autonomy right away. Improper articles
\ncan be amended later following implementation of the law.\"<\/p>\n
He also criticized the deliberation of the government
\nregulation on the regional autonomy implementation which didn't
\ninclude the regional administrations as the final recipients.<\/p>\n
\"The law was deliberated in a Jakarta-centered style. This
\nwill end at another centralized system,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The 2000 state budget draft, for instance, allocated more
\nthan Rp 15 billion for regional administrations. Unfortunately,
\ncentral government officials in Jakarta keep all the money for
\ntheir disposal,\" he added. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/committee-established-to-evaluate-regional-autonomy-1447893297",
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