Government plans to revoke 68 problematic bylaws
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said on Tuesday that at least 68 bylaws enacted by provincial and regency administrations should be revoked as they contradicted national laws.
The figure was far smaller than that recorded by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), which recently demanded that regional governments review or scrap thousands of their rules deemed to have hampered business deals in the regions.
"We have received a report from KADIN mentioning thousands of controversial regional regulations, but our investigation finds that 68 regulations are inconsistent with higher laws," Hari told a media conference in Jakarta.
He said the revocations should include the regulation requiring visitors to pay taxes to the local administration.
"Such a regulation is very controversial and should be scrapped," Hari added, without mentioning the name of the districts or provinces that had enacted the ruling.
Echoing Hari's statement, Director General of Regional Autonomy Affairs at the Ministry of Home Affairs Sudarsono said most of the controversial regulations were related to taxation and other sources of regional income.
Hari said that, as home affairs minister, he had the right to revoke such controversial regulations.
"But I prefer to promote discussion in order to deal with this issue. But if they (governors, regents or mayors) refuse to do so, I will execute my authority," he warned.
The issue of controversial regulations surfaced following the implementation of the regional autonomy law on Jan. 1, 2001, which requires regional administrations to independently create and manage their own sources of income.
The move has caused problems for certain regions, particularly poor provinces or regencies.
The government is revising the laws on regional autonomy and the central-regional fiscal balance in a move to reduce the control of regency administrations over natural and financial resources.