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)