Indonesia gains three new governors
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)