Susilo seeks close coordination for clear national spatial zoning

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called for good coordination between the central government and regional administrations in national spatial planning, for the achievement of national goals.

"The central government and regional administrations must achieve close and strong coordination in national spatial planning and work hard to implement it in detail at provincial and regental/municipal levels, to avoid overlapping interests in carrying out the development programs," said the President in his written speech read by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, during a meeting of the Coordinating Board of National Spatial Planning at Borobudur Hotel here on Monday.

The President said the central government, including non- department government agencies and regional administrations should not merely pursue their own interests, but prioritize those of the nation.

"As state officials, we should identify all problems cautiously and resolve them comprehensively and in reference to national interests," he said.

He said all sides were obliged to abide by Law No. 24/1992 on national spatial planning and, under Law No. 32/2004 on regional administrations, all regions were required to refer to it in making their own spatial planning bylaws.

Susilo called on all stakeholders to consistently enforce the national spatial planning law, which was designed on the basis of the sustainable development concept benefiting the people and the environment in carrying out economic development.

He said that national spatial planning was crucial to help lure new investment, particularly in regions outside Java, to avoid the concentration of development activities on the heavily populated Java.

"With such a policy, the population would not be concentrated on Java because it has been difficult for the government to make standard spatial planning on Java because of its overpopulation. It has been urgent to bring investors to bigger islands (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua) to achieve an even dissemination of the population," he said.

The President also called for the immediate establishment of the country's borderlines, to help avoid border disputes with neighboring countries.

He cited the Ambalat dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia as a real instance that had prompted the government to determine the country's borderlines, both on land and offshore.

"The previous dispute over Sipadan and Ligitan islands is a good lesson for us to resettle our borderlines with our neighbor countries to avoid such rows in the future," he said.

He said that Indonesia had no intention of becoming an aggressor country, but that it would never let other countries annex part of its territory.