House endorses 10 bills on 22 new regencies
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The House of Representatives (DPR) passed on Monday 10 bills endorsing the establishment of 22 regencies in 10 provinces throughout the country.
In a plenary meeting delayed twice because of poor attendance, the legislators warned the Ministry of Home Affairs and regional administrations of violating territorial borders among autonomous regencies. The meeting was attended by only 249 of 500 legislators in the House.
The meeting was originally scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m., but due to the poor showing, deputy House Speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, who chaired the plenary meeting here, adjourned the meeting for 30 minutes. But when the legislators convened half an hour later, only 178 legislators were present, prompting Soetardjo to postpone the meeting for a second time.
When the meeting resumed at 10:00, only 249 of the country's 500 were present. There was no explanation on the whereabouts of legislators who did not attend the plenary meeting.
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, in his acceptance speech, warned regional administrations of possible conflict among regencies when borders outlined in the law came into force.
"Please avoid causing social disharmony when drawing up the borders for each regency," the minister said on Monday.
Teras Narang, the chairman of Commission II in charge of the bills, admitted that defining territorial borders was a crucial issue during the deliberation.
The talks on territorial borders among each of the regencies have taken a lot of time. In earlier discussions, the mapping of borders provided by the government was not clear enough.
"We have asked the government to clarify the borders and to review them," Teras added.
According to Hari Sabarno, the establishment of new regencies was a realization of efforts for social empowerment. He also called on local administrations to improve their public services.
The new regencies will soon have their own regents appointed by the respective governors for a one-year tenure. Within six months, the regencies have to elect the members for a local legislative council (DPRD), based on the results of the 1999 general election in those areas.
Alluding to the needed money to finance activities and local administrations in the new autonomous regencies, Hari said it would be the responsibility of local administrations. He did not elaborate.
The establishment of these 22 districts was mandated by Law No.22/1999 on Regional Administration.