Susilo seeks close coordination for clear national spatial zoning
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.