National commission on Aceh badly needed

National commission on Aceh badly needed

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) underlined on Friday the
importance of establishing a special national commission in
charge of developing an extensive range of measures aimed at
solving the prolonged conflict in Aceh.

"We've asked the government to set up a commission on Aceh,"
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said after the first consultation
meeting between the House and President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Akbar said that due to the complexity of problems in the
strife-torn province, the government should find a better
approach in dealing with them.

"We think there should be closer cooperation among officials
of the ministries and government agencies to handle Aceh," Akbar
remarked in a joint media conference with Megawati, the first
held by the President since her ascension to the presidency on
July 23.

The government, during former president Abdurrahman Wahid's
tenure, imposed a presidential instruction on Aceh, No.14/2001,
issued in April, which outlined six programs -- regional
autonomy, economy, social programs, law and order, the
restoration of security and the dissemination of information.

The Aceh conflict lingers as one of the major problems the
country is facing. Even though three of Indonesia's leaders, B.J.
Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati, had personally visited
the province to deal with the issue, none of their efforts seems
to have had a positive impact on calming the clamor for
independence.

"We fully support the implementation of the presidential
instruction, but we think that more action is needed to end the
separatist problem," Akbar said.

He further said that he did not give a date for the
establishment of the commission. "It is up to the government to
follow up on the suggestion," Akbar said.

The President said that the government had some difficulty in
implementing the rehabilitation programs in the restive province
due to severe security problems.

"The government will continue to step up its efforts to
implement the rehabilitation program, as mentioned in the
presidential instruction, as soon as possible," Megawati said.

She also said that the government had decided to extend the
implementation of the presidential instruction for the next four
months, because it was important to maintain peace in the
province.