10 regions submit proposals demanding provincial status
10 regions submit proposals demanding provincial status
JAKARTA (JP): Following the birth of three provinces last
year, the government is now being overwhelmed by proposals
submitted by 10 regions demanding provincial status.
Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Surjadi
Soedirdja told a hearing with the House of Representatives
Commission II for Legal and Home Affairs here on Tuesday the
government would only be able to deliberate with the House the
proposal to establish Riau Islands province in the current fiscal
year due to limited budget.
"For the 2001 fiscal year, the forming of Riau Islands as a
new province tops our list of priorities. We will take other
proposals into consideration only if there are concerns other
than the demand for provincial status," Surjadi told the hearing.
He said the government received last year a total of 13
proposals, three of them were approved by the House with the
inception of Banten, Bangka-Belitung and Gorontalo Tomini Raya
provinces.
The proposals in the pipeline came from Riau islands in Riau
province, West Sulawesi in South Sulawesi, North Kalimantan in
East Kalimantan, Southeast Maluku in Maluku, Bima in West Nusa
Tenggara, Tapanuli in North Sumatra, Flores in East Nusa
Tenggara, Madura in East Java, Ketapang in West kalimantan and
Luwu Raya in South Sulawesi.
"Altogether there were proposals to establish 13 provinces, 44
regencies, 24 administrative cities, 10 non-independent regencies
and five mayoralties in the year 2000. We managed only to process
three of 13 proposals for provinces," Surjadi said.
He said to appraise a region applying for a provincial status,
the central government would take into account its capabilities,
including natural and human resources, as stipulated in the
Government Regulation No. 129/1999 on the establishment of a new
administrative territory.
"The establishment of a new province brings about several
consequences, especially in its budget distribution," Surjadi
added.
Over the last two years, Indonesia has seen the number of its
provinces swelling from 27 to 31.
In 1999 the country lost East Timor, which opted to break away
in a United Nations-sponsored ballot, but established North
Maluku as a new province.
Bangka-Belitung was officially named the 31st province of the
country, with Gorontalo Tomini Raya, the bill of which had been
deliberated last year, the next in line.
The country should have had two more provinces in the eastern-
most parts of Irian Jaya, established by former president B.J.
Habibie's administration late in 1999, but they were not popular
and, consequently, rejected by locals.
The government has supported the forming of new provinces in a
bid to improve people's welfare and public services.
Many have warned that the policy could encourage the already
growing provincial sentiments in the regions and eventually lead
toward disintegration.
There have also been question on who will actually benefit
from the establishment of new provinces, with critics arguing
that the step is a maneuver by local officials wanting to enrich
themselves by gaining control over an area's resources.
A House Commission II member Ferry Mursyidan Baldan from
Golkar Party said on Tuesday the House expected the government to
have finished studying the 10 proposals within this year.
"We hope by the end of the fiscal year we can give an answer
to the people which proposals are accepted and which are not. We
all know not every area is able to become a new province," Ferry
told The Jakarta Post after the hearing.
"The areas should fulfill certain criteria and submit several
requirements for consideration but we hope the appraisal can be
finished this year," he remarked. (dja)