Govt warned of drawbacks of regional autonomy
Govt warned of drawbacks of regional autonomy
JAKARTA (JP): Observers have lauded the government's decision to launch a trial-run of regional autonomy this month, but have warned of several possible drawbacks.
Political scientist Amir Santoso of the University of Indonesia and legislator Darussamin told The Jakarta Post this week that they foresaw several obstacles to the plan to give 26 selected regencies greater say and responsibility.
Amir said that one obstacle might be that a loosening of central government supervision by the central government could prove too great a temptation to some unscrupulous regional officials who would commit violations of the law.
"If regents have greater autonomy, but the ability of the local legislative council, the DPRD, to control them is not increased, then we might find we have some little kings to deal with later," Amir said.
Amir said he believed, however, that the plan was a big step in direction the democratization because it represented the start of greater participation in the policy-making process for the people of the regions.
Darussamin said that both the central government and the regional governments would have to deal with problems during the two-year trial period, such as differing levels of income or economic growth among the regencies.
"There's also the question of human resources quality," Darussamin said. "Not all personnel in the regencies' administrations are capable of handling affairs which for a long, long time have been taken care of for them."
Amir concurred with Darussamin, pointing out that there were regional leaders who might be unhappy with the move because they had become lazy as a result of the existing, more centralized administration.
"These leaders will have to start thinking about establishing regional budgets or development plans by themselves," Amir said.
Another obstacle to contend with is, according to Darussamin, the fact that the central government itself may still have some reluctance to hand over authority over certain affairs.
Director general for Public Administration and Regional Autonomy of the Home Affairs Ministry, Sumitro Maskun, said earlier that some ministries were currently dubious about the plan.
The ministries of education and culture, information, and religious affairs have reportedly objected to delegating some aspects of their authority to the regencies.
The Ministry of Education, for instance, has been mulling over the question whether to hand over responsibility for teachers' welfare to local officers. The officials are concerned that educational facilities and even the welfare of teachers might suffer as a result of the transfer.
Amir said he agreed with the education ministry's reluctance, saying that there were certain areas of responsibility which definitely should not be handed over to the regency level.
"The ministry should not transfer authority for establishing school curricula to regency governments or we'll face problems, such as too many local subjects, like regional languages, in the curricula," he said.
The government has yet to announce the exact date on which it will launch the project. However, it has been reported that each of the 26 regencies will receive Rp 60 million ($28,000) to implement the program.
Under the pilot project, the more affluent regencies will be given greater autonomy in the management of resources.
Critics say the government has been very slow in granting greater autonomy to the regions. Indonesia passed a law on regional autonomy in 1974, but the trial period only begins next month.
Amir called for a revision of the law, which he said created confusion as to the real functions of the DPRD because the institution is treated as part of the regency government.
"The council should be established as an independent legislative body so that it can exercise greater supervision over the regency administration," he said. (swe)