RI to cohost workshop on autonomy
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Acknowledging the shortcomings resulting from the decentralization process, especially as it pertains to the forests, the government will co-host an international workshop.
It is hoped that Indonesian officials can learn from the experiences of other countries whose autonomy system works properly.
"Our decentralization system was formulated in such a hurry, that both the central and local administrations were unprepared. Besides, the distribution of power stated in Law No. 22/1999 (on Regional Autonomy) is unclear," Secretary-General of the Ministry of Forestry Wahjudi Wardojo said on Tuesday.
Wahjudi will lead the Indonesian team to the workshop, which will be held in Switzerland from April 27 to April 30. The team includes representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Development Planning Board.
Wahjudi said dissimilar perceptions among local administrations about sustainable forest management exacerbated the situation, contributing to the critical forestry problems in the form of over exploitation, deforestation and illegal logging.
Enacted in 2000, the law on regional autonomy provides local administrations much broader authority in making decisions concerning their areas.
They are competing to enrich their areas by exploiting the natural resources there. Some environmental experts believe that the various administrations are ill-equipped to make intelligent decisions on environmental issues.
Wahjudi expects the workshop will help the government find solutions to those problems since many countries with large forests and experience in a decentralized systems will participate.
Co-hosted by the Swiss government, the workshop will involve dozens of countries, such as the United States, Russia, Bolivia, Japan, China and Vietnam.
Swiss Ambassador to Indonesia Georges Martin conceded that a decentralized system was not easy to manage.
"There could be a period at the beginning when decentralization could badly affect several sectors, including forestry. From our experiences, what's important is to bring elements of good governance to local communities ... local entities," he said.
Martin's view was shared by the director of the Center of International Forestry Research (Cifor), David Kaimowitz.
"The Ministry of Forestry will have to develop a lot of work in the area of orienting, training and guiding (regental) and provincial governments. This requires institutional development to build the capacity of local governments," said David.
He said the system in Brazil, where local governments were given financial incentives for their efforts to preserve the environment, was a good example.
The results of the workshop will be taken and used as considerations in the fourth annual meeting of the United Nations Forum on Forests from May 3 to May 14 in Geneva, also in Switzerland.