Autonomy not visible in Tangerang

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The implementation of regional autonomy policy in the Tangerang municipality has apparently still to be felt by residents, subdistrict and district officials, although a number of senior officials and councillors have claimed that it has proceeded properly since January 2000.

An indication that the municipal administration has not yet implemented regional autonomy policy has been the lack of a delegation of authority as mentioned in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No.XV/MPR/1998, Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and Law No. 22/1998 on the balance of central and regional governments.

"The regional autonomy policy took effect two years ago, but in practice, none of the 13 districts in the municipality has received any delegation of authority from the municipality," Periuk district chief Edi Mulyanto told The Jakarta Post at his office recently.

He said all districts believed that absence of authority delegation by the municipal administration to district administrations was caused by fear that districts were incapable of carrying out the delegated functions, such as issuing business and building permits or supervising development projects.

Similarly, Ibnu Jandi, director of Lembaga Kajian Publik (Institution of Public Policy Assessment), a local non- governmental organization, said Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin had not delegated his authority to district and subdistrict administrations while the public had limited access to the council to funnel its aspirations.

"What does regional autonomy mean if district and subdistrict officials, as well as residents, are not involved in the implementation of public policy designed by legislative and executive institutions?" he asked the Post.

However, municipal administration secretary Wahidin Halim denied that it had failed to implement the regional autonomy policy.

"We've delegated some functions to district and subdistricts. For example, we've allowed them to handle planning matters and to produce their own budgets," he said.

But Busro, budget committee chairman at the municipal legislative council, acknowledged that regional autonomy policy in Tangerang had not yet properly been implemented.

"That's why we frequently hold meetings with officials and citizens of districts and subdistricts to find out their aspirations," he told the Post.