Coordination of Greater Jakarta development poor

JAKARTA (JP): The head of the agency in charge of coordinating development programs in Greater Jakarta said yesterday that arduous and time-consuming procedures were causing his organization numerous problems.

E. Gunawan, the head of BKSP Jabotabek, said that it was hard for the agency to coordinate programs that came under the simultaneous supervision of the Jakarta and West Java administrations.

"Just to get approval of one plan, we have to follow so many procedures and ask for so many signatures. It's slowing down the agency's work," Gunawan said.

Gunawan made the remarks in response to questions about an article in the Kompas daily yesterday which revealed the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) had established in August a team to plan the development of the Greater Jakarta area, which also includes Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi.

Led by the board's fifth deputy, the team is meant to gather information and data on development issues in Jakarta and surrounding West Java townships.

BKSP has long been criticized for its lack of authority to coordinate the development between the capital city and Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi.

Strong coordination is needed to solve, among other things, flood and traffic problems.

Gunawan said the agency's main constraint in coordinating development in Jakarta and its surrounding areas was a conflict of interests with central government plans.

He said as an example that as the Jakarta administration had to coordinate its plans with the central government and West Java, the agency was often placed in an awkward position.

"Sometimes we can't do anything about it," Gunawan said.

Councilor Fatommy Asaari, who chairs the Golkar faction, said there was no need to form a new team to coordinate developments in the Greater Jakarta area and urged the central government to give more authority to BKSP.

"By forming a new team, it means that it will also have to coordinate its work with the Jakarta administration, so why should it have to duplicate the first team's work?" asked Fattomy.

He pointed out that the most important thing to do was to eliminate the increasingly selfish tendencies of different municipalities.

"If a municipality wants to work with another, don't be selfish. By cooperating closely there should be no problems," said Fattomy.

Chairman of the Armed Forces faction, Sumekar Kartawijaya, also questioned the need to form the team.

If BKSP does not work properly, maybe the new team can replace it, he said. "The fact is that development in Greater Jakarta is already managed by BKSP. So, there is no need to form a new team."

The most important thing now, he said, was to review the work already done in the coordination of development in the Greater Jakarta area.

"There's no need to blame each other. Work it out in the best interests of Greater Jakarta," Sumekar said.

Councilor Achmad Suaidy, who chairs the United Development Party faction, agreed with the establishment of the Bappenas team.

"I fully support the team's formation as it will help handle population problems and help implement the city's master plan," he said. (07/ste)