'Greater Jakarta needs ministerial level authority'
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang need one governor, with a ministerial level authority, to face future challenges, former state environment minister Emil Salim said.
This would enable better management to step up services of the capital, "which will have an increasingly international role as a growth center in the Southeast Asian region," he said yesterday.
It would also support decentralization, an urgent step for economic autonomy to face upcoming competition, he added.
"If things don't change, by the 21st century, we can expect more complications in one of the world's 10 megacities," he said after addressing employees at City Hall in a monthly lecture.
The population of Greater Jakarta is estimated to reach 21.2 million by the year 2015.
Currently, congestion and other shortcomings are all blamed on the municipality, he said, "while the source of the problems actually comes from higher authorities."
Regarding air pollution, he said that "Gas cannot be lead-free as long as the Ministry of Mining and Energy has not given instructions to produce lead-free gas." .
Greater Jakarta is the most important area to be considered for a higher level of management in comparison to other provinces, Emil said.
An increase in population and higher residents' expectations are among the biggest factors affecting urban change, "which occur most drastically in the capital," he said.
Jakarta, with an average 4 percent annual growth rate, has a higher rate than the national figure and is also worse than other areas of the country in terms of its distribution of income, leading to an increase in the number of crimes committed, Emil said.
He did not say explicitly whether Bogor, Bekasi and Tangerang should be separated from the West Java province.
However, he stressed the need for a better "division of tasks" because commuters living in the outskirts who work in Jakarta contribute to pressure on resources in both areas.
The expectations of the younger generation for a better education, he said, add to the number of people flocking to Jakarta, apart from those seeking better jobs.
In response to whether a governor of Greater Jakarta with authority on par with a minister might be viewed as a threat to the central government's authority, Emil said "Astaghfirallah! (May Allah forgive me!)," expressing shock over such a possibility.
After the first 25 years of independence, the state's ideology and economy were already solid enough to enable better coordination through decentralization, he said.
Problems such as congestion and garbage are yet to be solved, despite the existence of a body called the Greater Jakarta Coordinating Board.
Meanwhile, the Antara news agency quoted President Soeharto as saying he regretted the "change of attitude" of former officials after they were no longer in power.
Tantyo Sudharmono, the chairman of the Young Generation of the Mutual Aid Family Conference, said the President said such officials, who were small in number, "would lose out to others," though he did not elaborate. "They are inconsistent with Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution," he was quoted as saying. The President did not mention any officials by name. (anr)