Indonesia gains three new governors
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia may lose one of its provinces in the near future, but the inauguration of three new governors on Tuesday signified the founding of three provinces: West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and North Maluku.
Acting Minister of Home Affairs Feisal Tanjung installed Abraham Oktavianus Atururi as West Irian governor, Herman Monim as Central Irian Jaya governor and Suratmin as North Maluku governor.
Under a government bill, Maluku will be split into two provinces of North and South Maluku, and Irian Jaya into three provinces of West, East and Central Irian Jaya.
The government argues that the creation of new provincial administrations is needed to increase management efficiency and effectiveness to speed up development.
It contends that by dividing a large land mass such as Irian Jaya into smaller administrative areas, the benefits of development could be reaped by even the most remote areas.
The same argument applies for Maluku which has a fragmented area comprising 1,027 islands.
The bill also created 29 regencies and three mayoralties in 12 provinces, including Aceh, Riau, West Sumatra, Jambi, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi, Maluku and Irian Jaya.
Feisal also swore in 28 regency chiefs and three mayors in the ceremony at the ministry on Tuesday.
A regency chief for Simeulue, Aceh, has not been appointed.
The government's decision to split the provinces remains controversial.
The ceremony met with rowdy protests from youth groups from both provinces.
The Irianese youth group said the new administrations would only split the people into three groups with no guarantee of improved welfare.
The youths briefly disrupted the ceremony when they succeeded in entering the ministry complex via the back entrance.
The Maluku youth group protested from outside the gate of the ministry.
Opposition to the division of the provinces also came from Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) senior researcher Mochtar Pabottingi who described the idea as "maniacal".
"The government's plan to split Irian Jaya before the June general election was a crazy man's idea," he said. (02/04)