Five years of autonomy, Pucukan still poor<\/p>\n
By Ainur R. Sophiaan<\/p>\n
SIDOARJO, East Java (JP): Pucukan, a hamlet inhabited by 41
\nfamilies, is located on the eastern coast of Sidoarjo regency and
\nsqueezed in by thousands of hectares of shrimp ponds, which are
\nthe hamlet's livelihood.<\/p>\n
Pucukan, which is part of Gebang village in Sidoarjo City,
\ncannot be accessed by land transportation. Instead, a 1.5-hour
\nride on a motorboat along the Karang Gayam River, which runs
\nthrough the city, will bring visitors there.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post and Sidoarjo Regent Win Hendrarso witnessed
\nhow Pulungan residents live five years after Sidoarjo was chosen
\nas one of 26 regencies to take part in a pilot project on
\nregional autonomy.<\/p>\n
No electricity here. Only a diesel power generator that gives
\npower and illumination between 5 a.m. and 12 p.m. daily. The only
\nsource of clean water is an artesian well of 70 meters depth.
\nMost of the Pulungan inhabitants live in houses made of bamboo
\nmats, with dirt floor.<\/p>\n
The residents are workers in the shrimp ponds, which are owned
\nby people in Sidoarjo and Surabaya. Almost none of them graduated
\nfrom elementary school.<\/p>\n
The hamlet does have one elementary school, in severe
\ndisrepair and with only three classrooms, so children have to
\ntake turn studying.<\/p>\n
\"The school was a present seven years ago from Golkar when it
\nwon elections here,\" said a resident, Zainuri. \"It's started to
\ncrumble now. Besides, our place is regularly flooded every year
\nduring either monsoons or rising sea tides.\"<\/p>\n
\"Many of our children who finish junior high school (in the
\ncity) refuse to come home. They choose to live in the city,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The hardships faced by Pucukan residents are by no means
\nunique, being experienced in most settlements along the eastern
\ncoast of Sidoarjo, which spans an area of 634,385 square
\nkilometers. An irony for a regency that was the site of the
\ngovernment's experiment in regional autonomy.<\/p>\n
\"How could a regional autonomy project, which was developed
\nfrom the concept of decentralization, proceed effectively during
\nsuch a centralized administration?\" Win asked, referring to the
\nNew Order regime of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Merit system<\/p>\n
In April 1995, Soeharto launched a trial run of greater
\nregional autonomy, which gave 26 selected regencies a greater say
\nin the running of their affairs. Under the program, most of the
\nmatters previously handled by the central government were handed
\nover to authorities in the 26 regencies.<\/p>\n
The areas of responsibility handed over to the regencies
\nincluded health, fisheries, education and culture, public works,
\nanimal husbandry, home industries, public housing, land
\ntransportation and tourism.<\/p>\n
The concept, however, failed to become a reality.<\/p>\n
\"It's been a no go. Many affairs were really handed over to
\nus, but we have not been given the authority to handle them. How
\ncould we make decisions?\" Hendrarso asked. \"They gave us these
\nproblems but no authority, so obviously we could do nothing.\"<\/p>\n
Many agencies were relegated to the regency, but the authority
\nto run the financial affairs was not handed over. The cold-
\nstorage industry in Sidoarjo, for example, earns Rp 1 billion
\nannually, but 100 percent of this still has to be sent to the
\nprovincial administration.<\/p>\n
\"We get nothing in return (for the management of the
\nindustry). Now we are demanding 50 percent of it,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Human resources development is another example. During the
\ntrial run of the autonomy project, Sidoarjo regency had to accept
\nthat with the establishment of new local agencies to replace the
\nregional offices of ministries, it also had to accommodate
\nthousands of civil servants.<\/p>\n
Moentiono, the spokesman of the Sidoarjo regency
\nadministration, said his region currently had a surplus of
\nemployees. The regency initially had 1,500 employees, but with
\nthe autonomy it had to accept 8,500 new civil servants
\ntransferred from the provincial administration. This is in
\naddition to 4,000 other civil servants, mostly teachers and
\nparamedics, who were already posted there by the central
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
Even in the regent office the excessive number of employees is
\nevident. The public relations unit has 28 employees; initially it
\nhad only 15. The administration affairs unit now has 50
\nemployees, or double the previous number. These are all in
\naddition to 1,050 part-time workers, and another 1,000 posted
\nfrom the central agencies of family planning and land affairs,
\nand former employees of the dissolved information ministry.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the \"influx\" of civil servants from the
\ncentral\/provincial administrations, Hendrarso promised to be firm
\nand take an independent stance when regional autonomy comes into
\neffect in January 2001.<\/p>\n
\"For the time being, we are not going to accept any more civil
\nservants (from the central\/provincial-level offices),\" he said.
\n\"If we have to recruit new people, we will do it professionally
\nbased on a merit system.\"<\/p>\n
\"We will not accept this new burden from the central
\ngovernment, no matter what,\" he said, referring to Law No.
\n43\/2000 on the civil service. He added that the restructuring of
\nlocal institutions was almost complete, and that the only space
\nleft was for the reorganization of the civil servants transferred
\nfrom the central government into the increasingly limited posts
\nand offices.<\/p>\n
Nothing in return<\/p>\n
One of the keys to autonomy is the management of regional
\nresources, but this is where the controversy centers. Sidoarjo
\nregency has a population of 1,548,820 with genuine regional
\nincome of Rp 40.5 billion (1999\/2000 figures), coming second in
\nEast Java only to Surabaya.<\/p>\n
In 1999, Sidoarjo submitted Rp 1.5 trillion from value added
\ntax and income tax, and Rp 40 billion from motorized vehicle tax.
\nFrom the land and building tax, the regency received 64 percent
\nof revenue.<\/p>\n
\"To support the autonomy project, we will need at least Rp 400
\nbillion per year to operate our offices and independent
\ndevelopment projects,\" Hendrarso said. Where will the money come
\nfrom if not from revenue sharing?<\/p>\n
Hendrarso plans to increase regional revenue by intensifying
\nand seeking fresh sources. Not that he will have an easy job
\nafter years of getting nothing in return for the money that went
\nto the central\/provincial administrations.<\/p>\n
Sidoarjo regency, for instance, has not received anything from
\nthe management of taxes and retribution at Juanda Airport despite
\nthe facility being in its area.<\/p>\n
Even parking at the airport is managed by the Navy, which
\ncharges Rp 1,500 per car. This is despite the regency regulation
\nthat parking fees are Rp 500.<\/p>\n
\"We never know how much money is being generated from the
\nparking every year,\" Hendrarso said.<\/p>\n
This is why Sidoarjo regency has yet to decide its income
\ntarget, and how to meet it when autonomy comes into effect.
\nProperty promises lucre, as its business is again booming and
\nland prices soaring.<\/p>\n
Another sector that might be mined is industry. The total
\namount of domestic investment reached Rp 5.8 trillion in 2000,
\nwhile foreign investment was Rp 7.02 trillion. Other industries
\nfor the same period totaled Rp 535.7 billion.<\/p>\n
Hendrarso said his office was preparing to develop a new
\nindustrial estate covering up to 300 hectares.<\/p>\n
\"We are struggling to build a one-stop service center for
\ninvestors. This is the only opportunity for Sidoarjo. I am hoping
\nthe new arrangement of fiscal balance between regional
\ngovernments and the central government will really be respected,\"
\nhe said. \"If so, Pucukan will not suffer like this.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/five-years-of-autonomy-pucukan-still-poor-1447893297",
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