Autonomy gives limited economic power: Official
<p>Autonomy gives limited economic power: Official</p><p> JAKARTA (JP): The autonomy law gives only limited authority to
provincial administrations in managing their economic affairs, a
senior provincial official said here on Friday.</p><p>Setia Hidayat the head of West Java's Regional Development
Planning Agency (Bappeda) said most of the provincial
administrations felt that the autonomy policy was still too weak
to empower the local economies.</p><p>He suspects that the lack of economic authority given to local
governments stems from the reluctance of some economic-related
ministries to delegate their authority.</p><p>"It might be because they (ministries) think regions are not
prepared to handle autonomy," he told The Jakarta Post on the
sidelines of a seminar on autonomy held by the Indonesian Public
Policy Society and the Center of Strategic and Policy Studies of
Nahdlatul Ulama's General Board.</p><p>He declined to name any ministries but said the reluctance was
obvious in the recently issued government regulation no 25 on
regional authorities as part of the implementation of the
autonomy law.</p><p>Under autonomy laws, No 22/1999 on regional government and No
25/1999 on intergovernmental fiscal balance, regions will receive
greater authority to manage their economy. But details of the
delegation of authority are stipulated in the government
regulation.</p><p>But, according to Setia, the regulation on the implementation
of the autonomy law issued early this month, is disappointing
because it only gives a little authority to local governments in
generating income through their autonomy status.</p><p>In the regulation, Setia said, the central government seemed
to have first decided how much authority they needed, and then
handed the rest over to the regions.</p><p>"It's a residual autonomy," he said.</p><p>With the lion's share still in the hands of the central
government the regulation had reduced the meaning of the
autonomy, he said.</p><p>For example, he said that regions felt the central
government's role in determining regional budgets was still
dominant.</p><p>He said part of the government allocated funds to the regions
would still be under the control of the central government.</p><p>Setia said the use of these funds would be predetermined by
the central government.</p><p>"Local governments see this as interference," he said.</p><p>According to him, the central government doubts that regions
are prepared to handle greater authority was baseless.</p><p>"It remains unfounded until regions have a chance first to
apply the autonomy," he said.</p><p>Furthermore, he said, the central government's reluctance to
share their authority was affecting autonomy preparations.</p><p>"Thus far we've received inadequate assistance from the
central government to prepare ourselves for the autonomy," he
explained.</p><p>What the regions need most, Setia said, are technical
assistance, guidelines, and sharing of experiences.</p><p>He added that the central government must suit their
assistance to the each regions' unique situation.</p><p>Social science expert Benyamin Hussein of the University of
Indonesia expressed doubt that regions could prepare themselves
to exercise full autonomy by next year.</p><p>According to him, the central government was too slow in
preparing the regions.</p><p>"Some ministries think decentralization is a zero sum game,"
he said,</p><p>He said these ministries should understand that there was no
dichotomy between the central government and the local government
as decentralization is intended for the welfare of the people.</p><p>Benyamin suggested the government standardize the delegation
process to accelerate the implementation.(bkm)</p>
provincial administrations in managing their economic affairs, a
senior provincial official said here on Friday.</p><p>Setia Hidayat the head of West Java's Regional Development
Planning Agency (Bappeda) said most of the provincial
administrations felt that the autonomy policy was still too weak
to empower the local economies.</p><p>He suspects that the lack of economic authority given to local
governments stems from the reluctance of some economic-related
ministries to delegate their authority.</p><p>"It might be because they (ministries) think regions are not
prepared to handle autonomy," he told The Jakarta Post on the
sidelines of a seminar on autonomy held by the Indonesian Public
Policy Society and the Center of Strategic and Policy Studies of
Nahdlatul Ulama's General Board.</p><p>He declined to name any ministries but said the reluctance was
obvious in the recently issued government regulation no 25 on
regional authorities as part of the implementation of the
autonomy law.</p><p>Under autonomy laws, No 22/1999 on regional government and No
25/1999 on intergovernmental fiscal balance, regions will receive
greater authority to manage their economy. But details of the
delegation of authority are stipulated in the government
regulation.</p><p>But, according to Setia, the regulation on the implementation
of the autonomy law issued early this month, is disappointing
because it only gives a little authority to local governments in
generating income through their autonomy status.</p><p>In the regulation, Setia said, the central government seemed
to have first decided how much authority they needed, and then
handed the rest over to the regions.</p><p>"It's a residual autonomy," he said.</p><p>With the lion's share still in the hands of the central
government the regulation had reduced the meaning of the
autonomy, he said.</p><p>For example, he said that regions felt the central
government's role in determining regional budgets was still
dominant.</p><p>He said part of the government allocated funds to the regions
would still be under the control of the central government.</p><p>Setia said the use of these funds would be predetermined by
the central government.</p><p>"Local governments see this as interference," he said.</p><p>According to him, the central government doubts that regions
are prepared to handle greater authority was baseless.</p><p>"It remains unfounded until regions have a chance first to
apply the autonomy," he said.</p><p>Furthermore, he said, the central government's reluctance to
share their authority was affecting autonomy preparations.</p><p>"Thus far we've received inadequate assistance from the
central government to prepare ourselves for the autonomy," he
explained.</p><p>What the regions need most, Setia said, are technical
assistance, guidelines, and sharing of experiences.</p><p>He added that the central government must suit their
assistance to the each regions' unique situation.</p><p>Social science expert Benyamin Hussein of the University of
Indonesia expressed doubt that regions could prepare themselves
to exercise full autonomy by next year.</p><p>According to him, the central government was too slow in
preparing the regions.</p><p>"Some ministries think decentralization is a zero sum game,"
he said,</p><p>He said these ministries should understand that there was no
dichotomy between the central government and the local government
as decentralization is intended for the welfare of the people.</p><p>Benyamin suggested the government standardize the delegation
process to accelerate the implementation.(bkm)</p>