House endorses 10 bills on 22 new regencies
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.