Regencies ready for pilot project on autonomy
Regencies ready for pilot project on autonomy
JAKARTA (JP): Officials from various regency administrations said yesterday that they will be ready to accept more tasks and responsibilities from the central government under a greater regional autonomy project to be launched on April 25.
"We have issued bylaws to create 24 new agencies which will take over some of the tasks previously handled by the central administration," A.M Sulaiman, regent of Kutai in East Kalimantan, told The Jakarta Post by telephone.
Sulaiman said he had no problem finding the personnel to run the newly created agencies.
Sofyan Effendi, assistant to the chief regency in Batanghari in the province of Jambi, said however that he expected that the central administration would assist in staffing and funding the new agencies created in his territory.
Karimuddin Hasybullah, Regent of North Aceh in Aceh, sees the program as a challenge that he will have to meet.
Describing the autonomy as a trust placed in him by the central government, Karimuddin said: "I will carry out the program with all the people in North Aceh."
Kutai, Batanghari and North Aceh are three of the 26 regencies in Indonesia that have been selected by the government for the pilot project of the greater autonomy.
The officials in the three regencies said they have made lengthy preparations for the project and do not anticipate major problems when the central government delegates more power to them.
The project will be formally launched by President Soeharto at a ceremony in Jakarta on April 25, according to an Antara report yesterday. The try out period is two years and, if successful, will be applied to all the regencies in the country.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said the launching date has been postponed from April 17. He did not give any reason for the delay.
State Minister for Administrative Reform T.B. Silalahi early this week said the project would be implemented despite objections coming from the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Under the program, all branch offices representing 24 government ministries will be abolished. Their task will be taken over by agencies responsible to the regency chiefs.
Some of the transfers have already been effected, according to Antara.
The Yogyakarta administration had, as of yesterday, already transferred the tasks of 10 ministries to the Sleman regency administration. Similarly, Banyumas has also accepted greater tasks and responsibilities from the Central Java provincial administration. (29)