Governors request command over provincial police

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso hinted on Friday that all Indonesia's 26 governors recently issued a joint recommendation to central government that provincial police be put under their supervision.

Sutiyoso said the recommendation was made after they found it difficult to coordinate with the police to maintain public order in their respective provinces.

"Apparently, other governors also find the same problem as I do in coordinating with City Police to uphold public order here," he told reporters at City Hall.

"That's why we, the governors, issued a recommendation to put the provincial police under our supervision," he said.

The proposal to put the provincial police under the governors' direct supervision was one of 23 recommendations issued during a meeting of governors earlier this week here.

Earlier on Thursday, Sutiyoso criticized the police for its reluctance to back up city public order officials in their operations.

"Since the police have vowed to back up our public order operations, they should keep the promise. Moreover, it's part of their duty ... Well, it's easier said than done," he told reporters on the sidelines of a City Council plenary meeting which evaluated his annual accountability speech.

All five mayors in Jakarta complained to the governor that the police had failed to provide satisfactory backup on grounds that city administration had yet to provide funding for the police personnel.

At a meeting of city authorities at City Hall on July 7, City Police chief Insp. Gen. Nurfaizi aired his commitment to back up city public order operations. However, he then retracted this commitment.

"We don't put high priority on public order operations as the city administration has its own public order officials," Nurfaizi told reporters.

In return, Sutiyoso rejected on Thursday a request by City Police that the city administration provide a security fund of Rp 26 billion (US$2.7 million) for the upcoming General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) next month.

"The general session is a national event so it's inappropriate to ask the city administration to provide the security fund to safeguard the session," he said.

"It's impossible to provide such a large fund although the session is to be held here. I don't even know where I can get the money from," he added.

The governor, however, said that the request could be granted if the police were under the governor's supervision.

"We can arrange the funding in our annual City Budget if the police are under the governor," he said.

"In their current position, City Police should ask for the money from the National Police headquarters, not the city administration," added Sutiyoso.

He, however, said that the city administration always gave a certain contribution to the City Police and City Military Command during important events.

"We gave Rp 2.5 billion each to both security agencies during the June 1999 general election," he said.

"We will also contribute some funds to safeguard the upcoming general session," Sutiyoso added, while saying that the amount was still being calculated.

Interviewed separately, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dadang Garnida said on Thursday people should not focus their attention only on the amount of money.

"Do not just consider the amount, but also think of what the money is going to be spent on," Dadang told reporters on the sidelines of an exhibition on police technology at the Jakarta Convention Center in Central Jakarta.

He insisted that such a big amount of money was reasonable for such an important occasion like the general session. (08/nvn)