59 programs left to go, halfway through countdown

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has completed only three of 66 development programs in its first 50 days in office, leaving doubts as to whether it could complete the ambitious programs before the 100-day period is up in January.

State Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Friday that the lackluster performance was due to sluggish bureaucracy and problems in legal infrastructure.

"We must prioritize those programs we can achieve in the first 100 days," she explained during an evaluation of the new government's performance.

The three finished programs are: a presidential decree on anticorruption drive, the President's two key overseas trips to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Chile and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos, and the disbursement of Idul Fitri bonuses to civil servants.

Susilo announced the programs along with his United Indonesia Cabinet on Oct. 21 -- one day after he took office.

The programs cover three broad agenda: one, to promote peace and security; two, to promote justice and democracy; and three, to achieve national prosperity.

Programs included under the first agenda are conflict resolution and combating terrorism.

As regards the second agenda, Sri said: "The government is doing legal reform, reforming bureaucracy and combating corruption."

She said the third could be achieved through improving the investment climate, stabilizing macroeconomic indicators and alleviating poverty.

Aside from its three major agenda, the Susilo administration also has 'special' ad hoc programs, such as ensuring security and peace over the Idul Fitri and Christmas holidays, and flood- prevention and mitigation.

According to the minister, four other programs are halfway finished: a government decree on antiterrorism agency, prosecution of high-profile illegal logging cases, promotion of investment and legal certainty in the oil and gas sector, and developing human resources in education.

Sri said the government was working hard to complete these four and the remaining 59 programs, and appeared upbeat that they would be completed on time.

Sri also said several ministers had also contributed initiatives, citing a Ministry of Public Works land clearing program for the construction of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road.