Thousand Islands may get new status<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is studying the possibility of
\nchanging the status of the Thousand Islands in North Jakarta from
\na district to a mayoralty in a bid to help promote the islands as
\na major tourist destination, an official said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
An assistant to the city secretary of human resources
\ndevelopment, Ma'mun Amin, said the idea of changing the status of
\nthe islands was mentioned in a draft law on the capital which was
\nsubmitted by Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid on Thursday
\nto the House of Representatives (DPR) for deliberation.<\/p>\n
The draft law was submitted to the House during a meeting
\nwhich was attended by Ma'mun and Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso.<\/p>\n
\"The suggestion is to upgrade the status of the district so it
\nwould have its own administration. The upgrade could be in the
\nform of a mayoralty... Whether it will be accepted or not by
\nDPR members, I have no idea,\" Ma'mun told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Jakarta currently has five mayoralties with 43 districts and
\n265 subdistricts.<\/p>\n
Ma'mun said changing the status of the district would be
\naimed at exploiting the tourism potential of the Thousand
\nIslands, a chain of islands north of Jakarta in the Java Sea.<\/p>\n
\"Development activities in the islands is going very slow. If
\nthe islands status was upgraded, its new image would be expected
\nto boost development activities there,\" Ma'mun said.<\/p>\n
Ma'mun added that the draft law, consisting of 10 chapters and
\n32 articles, was a follow-up to Law No. 22\/1999 on regional
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
\"Article 117 of law No. 22 states that the nation's capital
\nhas to have its rules and regulations legalized into law,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The draft law suggests a different organizational structure
\nfor the city administration.<\/p>\n
According to the draft law, the positions of the governor and
\nvice governors would remain unchanged, but new posts would be
\nadded below these two positions. Currently, the only post
\ndirectly below the governor and vice governors is the city
\nsecretary.<\/p>\n
If the draft law is approved, assistants to the governor would
\nbe added to the city administration.<\/p>\n
The draft law suggests that those filling the posts of
\nassistants to the governor handle city agencies and city
\ninstitutions linked to the technical development of the city,
\nincluding the Jakarta chapter of the National Development
\nPlanning Board.<\/p>\n
According to the draft law, the city secretary would
\nconcentrate on administrative duties and handling city bureaus.<\/p>\n
The same changes would also be made at the mayoralty level.
\nEach mayoralty would not only have a mayor and vice mayor, but
\nalso assistants to the mayor.<\/p>\n
\"As one can see, this (organizational structure) beefs up the
\nadministration... it would become more bureaucratic,\" Ma'mun
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said on
\nThursday that by adding new bureaucratic posts, the new
\nadministrative structure would \"eat through\" the city budget.<\/p>\n
\"Each additional post will need subposts to be filled and new
\nposts will have to be created... this will eat through the city
\nbudget,\" the official said.<\/p>\n
Currently, below the governor and four vice governors there is
\na city secretary, who, with five assistants, supervises the
\nadministration of the capital and the city's bureaus, agencies
\nand \"technical institutions\".(ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/thousand-islands-may-get-new-status-1447893297",
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