Economy behind military return in Aceh?

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Rumors of the motives behind the revival of the Iskandar Muda Military Command in the restive province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) might abound, but economic rather than security reasons, may prove to the main driving force behind the move.

Last year, the House of Representatives (DPR) enacted a law providing special autonomy status for Aceh with 70 percent of the oil and gas revenues going to the province and 30 percent to the central government.

The law also stipulates that the province would receive 80 percent of the total revenue from agriculture and fisheries.

It also says that profit sharing will be effective within eight years, instead of the 10 years proposed in the draft law. After eight years, profit sharing will be 50/50.

According to Kusnanto Anggoro of the Center of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the province, which is rich in natural resources, will receive some Rp 4 trillion (US$3.8 billion) to 5 trillion in additional local revenue each year.

Entering the year of 2002, the central government officially introduced the special autonomy in the province.

However, the imposition of the special autonomy was followed by a plan to revive a military command there. The plan is not new since as it was floated in 1999.

Ministry of Defense defense strategy director general Maj. Gen. Sudrajat recently said that the Iskandar Muda military command would be set up sometime in February as "all preparations, including the budget, have been completed."

Sudrajat, however, declined to reveal the budget's total.

He also denied if the presence of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was the main reason in reviving the military command, saying: "TNI's consideration is more than that. We consider that the province is vulnerable to external threats."

According to Kusnanto, the central government and military's plan to reinstate the military command was strongly connected to the announcement of the special autonomy in the province, as "the province would receive more revenue from special autonomy arrangement."

"Earlier, the military claimed that the government did not allocate enough money for the institution. I am curious how the military would fund the plan?," Kusnanto said recently.

Kusnanto further said that the revival of the military command in Aceh was "a good example of the civilian's failure to control the TNI, as the institution will be allowed to continue maintaining its habit for not being transparent in any of its financial reports."

Indria Samego of the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) concurred with Kusnanto, saying that economic motives was one of the reasons that prompted the TNI to reinstate the Aceh military command.

Two big oil-and-gas companies -- Arun NGL.Co and American Exxon Mobile-- are located in the province. A stable situation is required to keep the companies operating, Indria said.

"Many people already know that there is a competition between TNI and GAM over security areas there. Rather than giving it to GAM, why don't we give it to TNI?," Indria told The Jakarta Post.