Committee established to evaluate regional autonomy

Committee established to evaluate regional autonomy

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that the
city administration and City Council would establish a joint
working committee to evaluate and speed up the implementation of
regional autonomy, including a handover of the central
government's assets.

"The team will evaluate state assets, such as the Gelora
Senayan sports complex, toll roads, seaports and oil and gas
resources in the Pulau Seribu (Thousand Islands) marine resort,"
he told reporters at City Hall.

Separately, City Council Speaker Edy Waluyo said the
establishment of the committee was initiated by the city
administration, which had an interest in immediate autonomy
implementation.

"Why is the central government so slow in implementing the
autonomy? Dissatisfied people can take advantage of such a
condition and ask for more than autonomy," he said.

Sutiyoso acknowledged that there were different perceptions
between the regional administrations, including the Jakarta
administration, and the central government on which assets were
to be handed over to regional administrations.

"All governors will attend a three-day meeting from Thursday
to Saturday. Perhaps we'll discuss the matter more intensively at
the meeting," he said.

He repeatedly expressed a desire for the city administration
to soon manage the central government's assets as stipulated in
Article 119 of Law No. 22/1999 on Regional Autonomy.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to hand over the
Tanjung Priok seaport in North Jakarta to the city
administration. We are still waiting for decisions on Gelora
Senayan, the toll roads and the former Kemayoran Airport area,"
he said.

Sutiyoso, however, denied allegations that he had a strong
desire for the huge revenues from the assets.

"It's stipulated in the 1999 regional autonomy law. I'm not
looking for huge revenues. Managing such assets doesn't mean that
the city will always net profits. We may suffer losses," he said.

Therefore, he said, the team had to study all the assets to
avoid any bad consequences, citing debt problems.

"We don't want to take over someone's debts. At least we start
from zero, but not the minus line," he said.

"The city, as well as other provinces, have waited for
instructions to implement regional autonomy. Jakarta will be the
example on autonomy implementation for other provinces to
follow," he added.

State Minister for Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid said last
Friday that the government regulation on the asset handover was
scheduled to be declared in February.

"I have to consider all related matters as it will influence
the lives of so many people. We have to be careful here," he
said.

Ryaas said the regional autonomy laws still needed practical
guidelines on which assets were to be handed over to the city
administration.

"Of course, we can't hand over the State Palace," he said
jokingly.

Commenting on the Jakarta administration's demand to manage
the Gelora Senayan sport venues, the minister said it was quite
difficult, saying it was a national sport symbol.

Most sport activists aired anxiety over the plan to hand over
the sport venues to the city administration.

The governor, however, pledged to continue maintaining and
promoting sport activities in the complex.

Ryaas said it was also difficult for the city to manage the
seaport administration as it was nationally standardized.

"The city administration can manage the surrounding areas, but
not the technical issues," he said.

The central government's reluctance to hand over most of its
assets to the city administration drew criticism from political
observer Indria Samego, who suspected a hidden political agenda
in the case.

"Let's see who's behind the Gelora Senayan management. Who's
behind most of the projects related to the state enterprises, be
it a seaport or toll roads," he told reporters at City Hall.

"We know who they are," he added.

Indria urged the central government to soon implement regional
autonomy, while citing the law was inadequate and needed to be
refined.

"We can implement the autonomy right away. Improper articles
can be amended later following implementation of the law."

He also criticized the deliberation of the government
regulation on the regional autonomy implementation which didn't
include the regional administrations as the final recipients.

"The law was deliberated in a Jakarta-centered style. This
will end at another centralized system," he said.

"The 2000 state budget draft, for instance, allocated more
than Rp 15 billion for regional administrations. Unfortunately,
central government officials in Jakarta keep all the money for
their disposal," he added. (05)