Govt urged to settle island dispute

Govt urged to settle island dispute

JAKARTA: The city administration and the Banten provincial
administration agreed on Monday to allow the central government
to resolve their dispute over ownership of the Thousand Islands
regency.

"The ownership problem arose because each administration uses
different law to justify their claim of ownership," Governor
Sutiyoso said at City Hall.

"We use the 1999 Law No. 34 on Jakarta autonomy as our legal
basis, while the Banten provincial administration uses the 1999
Law No. 22 on regional autonomy," he said.

Sutiyoso was accompanied by Banten Vice Governor Atut
Chosiyah, who was meeting with the Jakarta governor to discuss
the issue.

Atut said her administration looked forward to a revenue boost
if the Thousand Islands regency, home to numerous tourist
resorts, was put under Banten's control.

"It is the revenue that is more important. It would be
acceptable if the central government put (the regency) under
Jakarta's jurisdiction as long as Jakarta shared the revenue with
us," she said. -- JP