Government slams autonomy critics

Government slams autonomy critics

JAKARTA (JP): Home Affairs Minister Surjadi Soedirdja struck
back at the mounting criticism over the newly-implemented
regional autonomy on Wednesday, saying that the issue had been
"overly politicized".

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with President
Abdurrahman Wahid at Merdeka Palace, Surjadi said that certain
people in Jakarta were trying to politicize the issue by creating
an impression that the regions were far from ready to implement
regional autonomy.

"Pessimistic comments they've made on regional autonomy have
done nothing but create uneasiness," Surjadi, whose ministry is
largely responsible for implementing regional autonomy, told
reporters.

"Despite all the setbacks, the regions are actually ready to
implement regional autonomy, but people here are trying to
politicize the issue," he added.

The statement came only one day after State Minister for
Administrative Reforms Ryaas Rasyid tendered his resignation from
the Cabinet citing "an irreconcilable disagreement" with the
President over the implementation of regional autonomy.

Ryaas, the mastermind behind regional autonomy, said that
there had been "differences of opinion" between him and
Abdurrahman over the formation of a special agency on regional
autonomy.

Abdurrahman rejected Ryaas' idea of establishing a powerful
autonomy supervisory board, instead opting for a lower-level
directorate-general under the home affairs ministry.

When asked whether Ryaas' resignation was mentioned during his
talks with the President, Surjadi said, "The issue was not
mentioned because it has nothing to do with me".

Surjadi, who is a former Jakarta governor, also refused to
comment when asked to explain principal differences of opinion
between his and Ryaas's ministries, on how to implement regional
autonomy.

"You should not address that question to me but to Ryaas,"
Surjadi said.

Critics have claimed that only regions rich in natural
resources would be ready for regional autonomy, which was
originally designed to defuse the threat of disintegration, which
ironically coincides with the blossoming democracy.

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais has joined
the chorus of skeptics, saying regional autonomy, which would
involve the removal of 2.6 million state employees, would only
create tension between the central and local governments.

Unready

In Bandung, the capital of West Java, chief of the Regional
Autonomy Section, Suherwan, said all 22 regencies and mayoralties
in the province are not yet ready to undertake comprehensive
decentralization.

"When they (the regencies) first heard about the opportunity
to manage their own financial budgets, they were all saying that
"we're ready".

"But now it turns out that they are not ready at all,"
Suherwan said on Tuesday.

There are two important things which the regions have failed
to cope with, namely education and infrastructure development, he
said.

In the field of education, more than half of the regencies
here have not been able to manage the education requirements for
kindergarten through to higher education, Suherwan said.

While in the infrastructure sector, the regencies do not have
enough manpower or adequate personnel to design and build the
required facilities.

"Up until now construction work and existing building
structures have been handled by the central government or
provinces. They just simply do not know what to do," he said.

Among the planned revenue streams in West Java in the wake of
regional autonomy are levies for underground water and the use of
water from Jatiluhur dam.

In Central Java, Chief of Cilacap Legislative Council Frans
Lukman said that his region is not ready to implement regional
autonomy since many of the regulations have not yet been made
public to the officials.

"We are not ready at all. We admit to this situation as many
of the officials have a corrupt mentality and are prone to acting
superior. Many of the regional regulations here also must be
revised," Frans said.

Locals, however, were anxious to implement regional autonomy
and are protesting the officials' sluggish movement, he said.

The local budget for Cilacap is around Rp 200 billion per
year. Most of those funds have come from the central government,
while only around 10 percent will be provided by the region, he
explained.

"We fear that the regional revenue won't ever cover the local
budget. We are so dependent on the central government," Frans
added.

Antara reported that a similar lack of preparedness was
evident in several regencies in East Java, Bali and Kalimantan as
well as the disputed provinces of Maluku, Aceh and Irian Jaya.
(25/27/45/edt/byg)