House passes bill on foundations

House passes bill on foundations

JAKARTA (JP): A plenary session of the House of
Representatives passed the bill on institutional foundations on
Wednesday which, among other things, increases the public's role
in supervising foundations and provides a new legal basis for the
establishment of new foundations.

Outgoing Minister for Justice and Human Rights Marsillam
Simanjuntak (seen in the picture being congratulated by
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle legislator Sutardjo
Suryoguritno) told the hearing that the law was designed to give
the public clear information on foundations that function as
legal institutions to carry out activities in various fields,
such as social, religious and humanitarian fields.

The newly passed law also stipulated the mechanism to
establish foundations and the merger of foundations, and the role
of the public to supervise foundations by requiring foundation
executives to announce summaries of their annual reports in the
state gazette, Marsillam said.

The requirement to issue annual reports was in line with the
principle of public disclosure and accountability for
foundations, he added.

The law also firmly separated the authority, function and task
of a foundation's board of patrons, executive board and
supervisory board, he said, as quoted by Antara.

The government submitted the bill to the House for
deliberation on May 30, 2000. The Wednesday session was led by
the House's deputy speaker Sutardjo Suryoguritno. (emf)