New govt told to revise autonomy law<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The next government has been told to revise the Law No. 22\/1999
\non regional autonomy and Law No. 25\/1999 on the fiscal balance
\nbetween regional and central administrations to arrest the
\nwidening gap between rich and poor across the country.<\/p>\n
North Sumatra's Dairi Regent Master P. Tumanggor, whose
\nregency won an award from the Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) for
\nproviding the best institutional environment for investors last
\nyear, said for most regencies the autonomy laws were \"too much,
\ntoo fast\".<\/p>\n
\"With the autonomy law, only five sectors, namely national
\ndefense, religion, law, and fiscal and foreign affairs, are left
\nto the central government to manage. All other areas have been
\ngiven to the regencies and provinces,\" Tumanggor told The Jakarta
\nPost over the weekend.<\/p>\n
For rich regencies, such big responsibilities would be less of
\na problem as they had enough funds to deal with them. But for
\npoor regencies, they were too much to bear, he said.<\/p>\n
There are about 440 regencies in the country and they are
\nmostly poor.<\/p>\n
Tumanggor, who holds a PhD in public finance from the
\nUniversity of Paris Dauphine in France, compared Dairi regency
\nwith Kutai in East Kalimantan. Both have more or less the same
\npopulation of about 300,000 and are the same size in area.<\/p>\n
Dairi is a poor regency with an annual budget of about Rp 150
\nbillion, of which more than 90 percent is provided by the central
\ngovernment. Locally generated income only amounts to just over Rp
\n4 billion a year.<\/p>\n
Kutai, meanwhile, is rich, with an annual budget of Rp 6
\ntrillion mostly derived from local sources.<\/p>\n
According to autonomy laws, regencies have the right to retain
\na portion of local income and the rest must go to the central
\ngovernment. The bigger their local income, the bigger funds they
\ncan retain.<\/p>\n
Such conditions have enabled Kutai to give extra allowances to
\nits teachers and cheap loans to the poor to start new businesses,
\nsomething regencies like Dairi could only dream of doing.<\/p>\n
\"I'm afraid (autonomy laws) will widen the gap between rich
\nand poor,\" he said. \"This could easily turn into social upheaval
\nif it is not addressed seriously.\"<\/p>\n
He proposed that the autonomy law revision should enable the
\ncentral government to take back some of its powers to manage
\ncertain areas -- education, health and agriculture.<\/p>\n
\"I think these three sectors are key points in eradicating
\npoverty. While giving some of its authorities in these three
\nsectors to regencies, the central government should maintain
\nother certain authorities, such as providing cheap books and
\ncheap health services,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Under the existing laws, regencies could set development
\npriorities that were contrary to the national interest, he said.<\/p>\n
Simalungun Regent John Hugo Silalahi said during the last few
\nyears he had found it very hard to make ends meet in developing
\nSimalungun. \"I can understand (Dairi's) difficulties, as I've
\nexperienced them myself,\" he said. Only a small number of
\nregencies could generate most of their income from local sources,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Simalungun with a population of 808,000 had an annual budget
\nof about Rp 400 billion, of which over 90 percent came from the
\ncentral government. Only about Rp 17 billion of the regency's
\nincome was generated locally.<\/p>\n
Silalahi said the central government should maintain its
\nmanagement of vital sectors that catered for the public good
\nuntil regencies had the capacity to manage them.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-govt-told-to-revise-autonomy-law-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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