Governors to gather in Maluku on revision of autonomy law

Muhammad Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku

The governors of all 32 provinces in Indonesia are scheduled to gather in Ambon on March 3 to discuss the ongoing revision of the regional autonomy legislation as well as to ensure postconflict security in the province ahead of the legislative election on April 5.

Maluku deputy governor Memet Latuconsina said here on Wednesday that all governors had confirmed their attendance at the All-Indonesian Provincial Administration Association (APPSI) meeting, slated to be opened officially by President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"With the President's planned visit and the governors' attendance at the meeting, we want to declare to the public and to the wider world that the situation in the province has returned to normal following the bloody conflict in 1999 to 2002," he said.

He added that local authorities were working hard to assure Jakarta that the security situation in the province was conducive to the upcoming legislative and presidential elections.

"Despite recent sporadic tension at certain locations in the provincial capital, Ambon, the situation has been quite positive and there is no reason to delay the general election schedule," he said.

Latuconsina added that the main agenda in the governors' meeting was to discuss input to the ongoing revision of Laws No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy and No. 25/1999 on fiscal balance.

The government has submitted a draft revision of the two laws to the House of Representatives, reclaiming some authority decentralized under the two laws.

Under the current legislation, regents have become relatively more powerful as regional autonomy has been granted to regencies, while governors merely represent the central government in the regions. Questionable implementation of regional autonomy has also raised numerous problems and sparked complaints from local and foreign investors.

In addition, the government has proposed the direct election of regional heads -- governors, regents, mayors and their deputies -- in the future, as the nation is about to participate in its first-ever direct presidential election on July 5.

Latuconsina also said that the provincial administration would use the APPSI meeting to raise funds from governors and ministers, as Aceh did when it collected Rp 25 billion from such a forum last year, to help spur the development program in the conflict-ridden province.

In parallel with the meeting, the province will stage Development Expo 2004, featuring hundreds of products by local and foreign companies.

Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu, currently in Jakarta, has recently complained that so far the central government has not yet disbursed the Rp 1.2 trillion in funds as stated in Presidential Instruction No. 6/2003, to help speed up rehabilitation in the province following the conflict.