Surabaya DPRD Urges Optimisation of Idle Assets to Boost Regional Revenue

Surabaya (ANTARA) - The Surabaya Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) is urging the city government to be bolder in optimising regional assets that have not been fully utilised to generate locally-generated revenue (PAD).

Deputy Speaker of the Surabaya DPRD, Arif Fathoni, stated that one of the keys to leveraging these assets is deregulating rules that currently make their use less flexible. “When the central government encourages regions to be creative, the obstacle lies in PP 7/2024, which is not yet pro-business, coupled with local governments that still think administratively rather than commercially. The regulations are not yet supportive, so to utilise idle assets, deregulation is a must,” he said in Surabaya on Wednesday.

He admitted to spending the past year directly observing the issue of regional asset utilisation, including bringing potential investors to Surabaya, but encountered several obstacles in the asset management mechanism. According to Fathoni, one of the main problems is the determination of asset rental prices and cooperation clauses, which are not yet flexible enough to attract investors.

“The Regional Financial and Asset Management Agency (BPKAD) is not yet business-oriented; it still acts as a government administrator, from setting rental prices that are not pro-investment to being inflexible in determining cooperation clauses,” he said. He added that this issue is not solely due to officials’ reluctance but rather a tendency to take a safe position to avoid legal problems in the future.

Fathoni cited the use of public spaces for billboards as an example of creativity in generating PAD. He argued that allowing advertisements in parks does not necessarily eliminate their function, provided there are obligations for the lessee to maintain and care for the park. “The Ministry of Home Affairs needs to provide legal certainty through deregulation so that regional assets can be truly optimised,” he concluded.