Talks on new status, face of Jakarta start<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With the start of deliberation on the law on Jakarta's status and
\nthe idea of relocating central government offices to the suburbs
\nreintroduced on Wednesday, chances are Jakartans will see a new
\nface of the city in the future.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Regional Representative Council (DPD Jakarta) deemed
\nthat the relocation an answer to the limited space available for
\nfurther development in the city.<\/p>\n
\"That will give more leeway for the Jakarta administration to
\nrebuild the city in line with the needs of its residents. I think
\nthe problems in the city, like transportation, office space,
\nhousing and green areas, will be solved,\" said council member
\nSarwono Kusumaatmadja.<\/p>\n
Sarwono said the central government could also enjoy spacious
\noffices to improve its services to the public in a place that
\n\"must be accessible to both the public as well as civil
\nservants\".<\/p>\n
Similar ideas had been fronted by former president Soeharto
\nin the early 1990s when the government planned to move the
\ngovernment offices to the area of Jonggol in Bogor, started with
\nthe relocation of the military headquarters to Cilangkap, East
\nJakarta. But no other institutions followed suit.<\/p>\n
The idea to move the government offices came up in response to
\nGovernor Sutiyoso's complaint over various urban problems in the
\ncapital, caused in part by an influx of between 200,000 and
\n250,000 migrants seeking work every year.<\/p>\n
\"The influx of unskilled migrants into the city has been a
\nheadache since the city has to provide new housing, job
\nopportunities, means of transportation and schools for them,
\ntoo,\" said Sutiyoso.<\/p>\n
He said that the migrants had made the city densely populated
\nwith over than 14,000 residents living in one square-kilometer
\narea.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives said on Wednesday that it had
\nestablished a special committee to deliberate the revision of Law
\nNo. 34\/1999 on special administration of Jakarta as part of
\nefforts to give greater autonomy to the administration.<\/p>\n
Legislator Ferry Mursidan Baldan said that the revision of the
\nlaw would be put on the priority list, with expectations it will
\nbe completed within seven months.<\/p>\n
The draft of the revised law had been proposed by the House to
\nthe State Secretariat during the administration of president
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri last year. The draft had been passed on to
\nthe Ministry of Home Affairs before being returned to the House
\nfor final deliberation.<\/p>\n
Ferry called on the Jakarta administration to establish a
\nspecial team to help prepare input to the committee over issues
\nand problems relating to the revision of the law.<\/p>\n
\"Jakarta is in dire need of focus to define its status as a
\nspecial province as distinct from other provinces countrywide,\"
\nhe told participants of a seminar on The fate of Jakarta ahead of
\nthe Revision of Law No. 34\/1999.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sutiyoso hoped that the revision of the law would
\nallow his administration to gain the autonomy to manage its own
\narea with less intervention from the central government.<\/p>\n
He alluded to the government's intervention in prohibiting
\nJakarta from developing the Jakarta New Port in North Jakarta and
\ninner city highways as examples of \"how the central government
\nhas undermined the administration's autonomy\".<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/talks-on-new-status-face-of-jakarta-start-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}