DPR/MPR office opens in Sidrap

SIDRAP, South Sulawesi (JP): The regency of Sidrap, some 200 kilometers north of the capital city of Makassar now has its own official House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) representative office.

House Commission I Chairman Yasril Ananta Baharuddin officially opened the representative office on Sunday.

It is the first such regional representative office in the history of the country which specifically represents the legislative institution.

Yasril, who hails from the regency of Sidrap, said the representative office would help locals channel their aspirations. But he did not say if the opening of the office had been approved by the speakers of the House and Assembly.

"I want to be closer to the people of Sidrap," he said. "This office is not authorized to make any regulations. It will, however, accommodate and handle problems that can be resolved at the regency level."

According to Yasril there will be no overlapping of duties between the representative office and other government offices or institutions.

He said he decided to open the representative office after visiting the U.S. some time ago.

"I saw that such a system worked very well there," he said, citing Hillary Clinton's step to open a representative office in the district she was elected senator.

The opening ceremony of the DPR/MPR representative office in Sidrap was attended by several DPR and MPR members from Jakarta, Sidrap regent HS Parawansa, the regency legislators, and hundreds of Sidrap residents. (27/sur)