Council passes planning bylaw
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Council passed on Tuesday another bylaw on city development planning, this time to approve the City Strategic Plan (Renstra), following the passing of two other bylaws on Monday.
The previous two bylaws approved the City Development Guidelines (Poldas) and the City Development Program (Propeda).
The City Strategic Plan consists of 15 chapters setting out a five-year plan for Jakarta, including the city's development vision and mission, development policies and strategies, eight development fields, budget policy and performance evaluation.
The eight development fields are law and order; administration; the economy; education and health; demography and manpower; socio-cultural affairs; natural resources and environmental management; and city infrastructure.
According to Law No. 4/1999, the City Development Guidelines serve as the main development document with political content, while Law No. 25/2000 states that the City Development Program should be a comprehensive development planning and managerial document, which is subsequently further spelled out the City Strategic Plan.
This Strategic Plan is a tactical and strategic development planning document.
The city's development vision is "to create a Jakarta, as the capital of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia, that is humane, efficient and globally competitive, inhabited by prosperous and cultured residents with good morals who participate actively in society and enjoy a safe and sustainable environment."
During the plenary session, councillors expressed various opinions regarding the bylaw before passing it.
The Justice Party (PK) faction, for example, questioned the absence of objective parameters to evaluate the governor's performance.
"All three bylaws on the Development Guidelines, Development Program and Strategic Plan fail to set out clear and specified indicators as to what is regarded as a success," said spokesman Abdul Azis Matnur.
A similar opinion was expressed by Bimo Hastoro of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, who said that qualitative parameters were not sufficient for performance evaluation. Quantitative parameters were also required.
Meanwhile, the PK faction also believed that drafting important documents such as the Strategic Plan should be done carefully and in a fully focused manner.
Government Regulation No.108/2000 stipulates that a newly installed local government chief executive should present a Strategic Plan within one month of his inauguration.
Many observers believe that it is simply impossible to draft a comprehensive Strategic Plan within such a short period of time.
Meanwhile, Ade Surapriatna of the Golkar Party faction hoped that the city administration would improve the technology used in city management in order to ensure Jakarta would become a true service city.