Government's merger plan questioned

JAKARTA (JP): The government's plan to merge the ministries of forestry, and agriculture will be counterproductive, a senior analyst has said.

Agriculture analyst Bungaran Saragih of the Bogor Agriculture University said that if the two ministries were merged, the government would face difficulties managing the country's forestry resources and agricultural development together.

"The two ministries are too big to be merged," he told journalists when he was asked to comment on a widely circulated rumor that the government would merge the two ministries to increase efficiency.

Bungaran said that it would be better if the government merged full ministries with state ministerial offices than merge two portfolio ministries.

Unlike full ministries, state ministries only have one office in Jakarta and are only responsible for special tasks. The full ministries have offices in all the country's 27 provinces.

Bungaran said it would be easier if the government merged the Ministry of Forestry with the Office of the State Minister of Environment since the two bodies' activities often overlapped, such as with protecting forest resources and the environment.

He said it would be better if the Ministry of Agriculture, on the other hand, was merged with the Office of the State Minister of Food and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) because the three bodies have similar roles in providing and distributing food.

The Ministry of Agriculture currently operates four directorates general and three agencies while the Ministry of Forestry operates four directorates general and two agencies.

"A slimmer cabinet is better (as it would) ensure good teamwork and efficiency. But such a target could not be achieved if we merge two giant ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Forestry," Bungaran said.

Observers have predicted there will be a massive restructuring of the government's offices, especially in light of the current monetary crisis, and that the next cabinet will consist of 25 ministers and ministerial-ranked officials.

The outgoing cabinet consists of 41 ministers and ministerial level officials, comprising four coordinating ministers, 21 ministers, 13 state ministers, plus the Armed Forces (ABRI) commander, the governor of the central bank, Bank Indonesia and the attorney general.

The Ministry of Forestry would most likely to be merged with the Ministry of Agriculture, the sources said.

Bungaran said that the preparations to merge two big full ministries would take several years because such a move would not only affect their supervision tasks but also thousands of civil servants. (gis)