Regents to get more say in state spending

Regents to get more say in state spending

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie on Monday issued a decree
that will alter the long-standing centralization of power and
give regional officials greater authority in major development
projects.

The ruling will come into effect on April 1.

Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and
Administrative Reform Hartarto said the new presidential decree
gives regional officials the authority to make decisions
regarding projects with a budget of up to Rp 50 billion (US$6.25
million).

Development projects costing the state more than this amount
will be handled by ministers or state agency chiefs, Hartarto
said in a media release.

According to the 1994 presidential decree still in effect,
provincial and regency authorities are only given autonomy to
handle projects with a budget less than Rp 2 billion. Projects
costing between Rp 2 billion and Rp 5 billion are handled by
director generals and those worth Rp 5 billion and over are
handled by ministers or state agency chiefs.

Hartarto said that for projects financed by provincial
budgets, lower-rank officials such as project chiefs would be
authorized to handle those with a budget of Rp 50 billion or
less. Projects worth more than that will fall into the
jurisdiction of governors.

The minister said his office would not have the authority to
decide the winners of bids for government projects. The office
would only supervise the bidding process.

"Governors, regents and other government officials will be in
charge of the tendering process, and report for supervision to my
office," he said. (rms/prb)