Autonomy bill provides for regional initiative

Autonomy bill provides for regional initiative

JAKARTA (JP): The passage of the regional autonomy bill by the
House of Representatives on Wednesday will not only allow a
greater say for regional administrations and legislatures in
managing their affairs, but also leaves room for creativity and
responsibility.

Four House factions -- the United Development Party (PPP), the
Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the Armed
Forces (ABRI) -- emphasized during the plenary session, during
which they endorsed the bill, that legal work was still needed on
the document.

The government, for instance, had to amend a number of
existing laws and establish directives before the bill would be
effective.

In the session chaired by Deputy House Speaker Hari Sabarno,
the factions said the bill would allow regional administrations
-- at the regency and mayoralty level -- to draft favorable
regulations without interference from the central government.

"For instance, regional administration can draft regulations
that will entice investors to do business in their regions," the
Director General for Regional Autonomy and Public Administration
of the home affairs ministry, Ryaas Rasyid, said on the sidelines
of the session.

In their final overview of the bill, the Golkar and ABRI
factions emphasized the wide-ranging regional autonomy provisions
in the package, including authority to control areas such as
ports, industrial sites, plantations, mining, forestry and
tourism.

"This regulation is a bold and positive step brought about by
the (power) decentralization, so authorities, which all this time
have been precluded (from decision making) will now be reached by
regional governments," Golkar spokesman Sunatra told the session.

ABRI spokesman Zawiah Ramlie, said the granting of greater
autonomy would mean a reduced Cabinet in the future.

For decades, the central government had the final say on areas
such as mining and forestry rulings. The new law will reverse the
tradition and grant regional administrations a greater say in
managing those areas.

The legislation, however, excludes defense and security
affairs, foreign affairs, judicial, monetary, fiscal and
religious affairs, which will remain in the hands of the central
government.

The legislation also excludes the thorny issue of revenue-
sharing between the central government and local governments,
which will be regulated in a separate law slated for endorsement
on Friday.

Communities from provinces that are rich in natural resources
have often criticized the government for exploiting their natural
wealth without returning a fair share of the revenue, leaving
their regions poor and undeveloped.

The PDI statement said: "It's natural to concede wide-ranging
autonomy to all provinces and regencies. Even rich regions such
as Irian Jaya, Aceh, Riau and East Kalimantan deserve special
attention".

"It's ironic that the rich regions still see many people there
living below the poverty line, despite making a substantial
contribution to the central government," PDI spokesman Budi R.
Hutapea said.

PPP said the new legislation grants provincial administrations
the authority to manage regency administration affairs, should
the latter be deemed incapable of performing their function.

The move, however, could be launched only after the mayoralty
or regency administrations themselves admitted incompetency due
to limited funding, facilities, infrastructures or human
resources, PPP said in a statement read by Chodidjah H.M. Soleh.
(aan)