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)