Banten province may cause domino effect

BANDUNG (JP): The imminent establishment of Banten as a province has been greeted with a mixed response, with some fearing a kind of domino effect.

Provincial council speaker Eka Santosa warned on Thursday that Banten's separation from West Java could trigger similar moves by other regions in the province.

"I heard that the Cirebon regency is working on a proposal to set up an independent province on the grounds that they are not benefiting from optimal economic growth," he said.

Eka, however, said that the West Java provincial legislative council accepted the decision establishing Banten as a province.

"We are now waiting for an assessment from the Regional Autonomy Advisory Board so as to determine which of our assets will be transferred to Banten," he said, adding that it was likely that development projects, such as the Situ Cipondoh (Lake Cipondoh) project, would be turned over to the new province.

Banten was officially endorsed as a new province by the House of Representative (DPR) on Wednesday. It now only awaits approval from President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Separately, West Java Governor R. Nuriana said that all assets related to the new province will be transferred to Banten.

"They include regency and mayoralty offices as well as other administration buildings," he said.

Deputy speaker of the West Java provincial legislative council Kurdi Moekri said Banten's separation would not trouble the West Java province financially.

"I'd like to clarify a previous statement by Ekki (Golkar legislator Ekki Syahruddin) that West Java is reluctant to let go of Banten," Kurdi said.

"Banten only contributed Rp 94 billion in revenue to West Java province this year.

"In contrast, the West Java administration provided a total of Rp 200 billion to Banten regency this year," he added.

Political observer of the Bandung-based Pasundan University Setia Permana said the aspirations of other regions such as Cirebon and Priangan Timur areas to become provinces was normal, but actually such a move is already too late.

The Priangan Timur area covers Ciamis and Tasikmalaya.

"The center of development in the regional autonomy era is on the regency/mayoralty level. They will be given greater authority than the province and receive more of the share of the budget. So why bother separating themselves?" Setia said.

Setia further warned that Banten has to be prepared for the possibility of certain elites there who would try to gain power and in the end forget about the public's interest.

"So being separated has its own cost.

"I think the regions which plan to separate themselves must hold a fair polling because Bogor or Cirebon, for instance, not only belong to the residents of those areas but culturally to other Sundanese people living in West Java as well," he added. (25/edt)