House endorses 10 bills on setting up of 22 new regencies nationwide

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives endorsed on Wednesday 10 bills on the establishment of 22 new regencies in eight provinces throughout the country.

Speaking to legislators after the endorsement, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said that the administration of the new regencies would be headed by an official to be appointed later by the respective governor.

Hari said the governor was expected to appoint a qualified official after consultations with the regent who used to oversee the territory where the new regency was.

"He or she will take the post for a maximum term of one year," Hari added.

Hari emphasized that in such a situation the local administration must finish setting up a local legislative council within six months.

Legislator Akil Mochtar confirmed that the establishment of the 22 new regencies were combined in the 10 bills -- not one bill for each regency -- in attempt to shorten the deliberation process.

The deliberation of the bills, which were submitted earlier this month, was done in a quick way so they could be completed in under three weeks, he said, adding that if the deliberation followed the normal procedure, namely once a week, it would have taken much longer.

Both the legislators and the minister noticed that four of the new regencies were in need of serious attention due to the unsolved problems regarding the process of their establishment.

Those four districts are Mamasa in South Sulawesi, Seruyan and Penajam Pasir in East Kalimantan and Bima in East Nusa Tenggara.

Commenting on the need of funds to finance activities of the new regencies, Hari said it would be the responsibility of the local administrations.

"It will be imposed on the local administration for the next three years," Hari said.

Akil further said that the establishment of the 22 regencies was in line with Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy.

Article 4 of the law stipulates that in the attempt to implement decentralization, there is a need to set up new provinces, regencies and cities which have the authority to manage their own business and satisfy the aspirations of local people.

Akil revealed that the provinces of Papua and West Java had also submitted other proposals for the establishment of more autonomous regencies.

He said that local administrations had the right to submit such proposals to the House, but the proposals needed approval from an inter-ministerial body in charge of scrutinizing regional autonomy, known as the Advisory Council for Regional Autonomy.

The advisory council will examine the natural resources as well as human resources of the regencies before giving approval for the proposals.