Law on Riau Islands not yet in effect: Minister

Haidir Anwar Tandjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno asserts that the law on the formation of Riau Islands province which was endorsed by the House of Representatives on Sept. 24, 2002, has not come into effect yet as there has been no presidential decree or government regulation to enforce it.

"The Riau Islands remains an integral part of Riau province, both administratively and legally, since President Megawati Soekarnoputri has not issued a decree and regulations to enforce the law," he said during his visit here on Saturday.

Hari was responding to Riau's increasing objection to the law and the increasing call for a thorough investigation into Riau Islands Regent Huzrin Hood who has been accused of misusing Rp 87 billion of the regency's 2001 budget to buy political support from local figures and politicians at the House for the formation of the new province.

The bill on the new province's formation was proposed by the House, instead of the government, using its right to initiate a bill.

Both the provincial administration and the legislative council have opposed the new province's formation because besides Natuna's objection, the four regencies -- the three others are Batam, Riau Islands and Tanjungbalai Karimun -- are not considered ready to be developed into a new province at present.

The Natuna administration has urged the central government to revise the law to exclude the resources-rich regency from the new province.

"If you want to amend the law, please do it through the House," Antara quoted Hari as saying.

Meanwhile, an inquiry team of the government prosecutor's office has been unable to investigate Huzrin although they have delivered three summonses to the suspect.

Antasari Azhar, deputy chief of the government prosecutor's office in the city, said the suspect had failed to answer the three summonses because he was busy in his daily tasks and on an important trip to Jakarta.

He said his team would not send a fourth summons because it would be against the law and they would wait for the suspect's presence for interrogation.

"We will take him by force to undergo interrogation if he fails to show up within 30 days," he said, adding that his team would bring the case to court as soon as possible.

Antasari said his team had collected material evidence and questioned 20 witnesses about the misappropriation of the budget funds.

Hendie Devitra, a member of Huzrin's legal team, said he would cooperate with Antasari's team to bring his client to undergo interrogation.

He denied that his client was pretending to be busy to buy time, saying: "We're seeking an appropriate time for our client to undergo interrogation."

Miswardi, director of the Pekanbaru Legal Aid Institute, said the prosecutors had the authority to arrest Huzrin since they had adequate evidence to do so.

"The prosecutors should use force to investigate the suspect since they have delivered three consecutive summonses," he said.