House to deliberate Bangka-Belitung bill
House to deliberate Bangka-Belitung bill
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives is set to deliberate a draft law which will establish Bangka and Belitung islands in Sumatra as a separate province.
"The House has decided to deliberate the bill within the next three months on the grounds that (the proposal) gained substantial support in our latest plenary session," Marzuki Achmad, the deputy chairman of the House's special committee dealing with the draft law, said here on Saturday.
The government is expected to form a special team to conduct a feasibility study on the possibility of giving the islands province status before beginning deliberations of the House- sponsored bill.
Marzuki said the House's special committee would cooperate with the government in providing the necessary data so deliberations of the bill could be completed by the end of this year.
Some 1,000 people from Bangka and Belitung rallied at the House compound on Friday to demand the government and the House move to discuss the draft law on their homeland's future. Ishak Zainuddin, the chairman of the Belitung regency legislative council and the leader of the demonstration, said the government should heed the people's aspirations in order to accelerate development in the region.
The House postponed endorsing a bill on the establishment of Banten province until January 2001 in order to obtain the government aid allocated for the area in the 2001/2002 state budget.
The House also is drafting another bill which would establish Riau as a separate province.
Ali Yahya, another member of the special committee, said the establishment of new provinces would accelerate development according to the plan to enact the regional autonomy law in January 2001.
"Numerous outlying regions have expressed their desire to set up separate provinces to support the economic development programs. Both Bangka and Belitung, and Riau are rich in resources, making it feasible for them to build their own provinces," he said. (rms)