Sutiyoso wants city police under his power

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso suggested on Tuesday that the city police be placed under the supervision of the city administration to improve the coordination among city officials in maintaining security in the capital.

Sutiyoso said the law on regional autonomy stipulated that security affairs were the responsibility of the respective governors.

"We have problems with the implementation of the law on regional autonomy because we are responsible for security, but we do not have the tools.

"That is why we need the city police to be included in our structure," he said.

"It would be suitable if the governor had the authority to supervise the city police," he added.

Sutiyoso's proposal received strong support from Golkar Party.

Chairman of Golkar's Jakarta chapter Tadjus Sobirin said it was important to have one line of command for security affairs in the capital.

"The National Police is under the President's supervision, so it would be fair to have the city police under the governor's supervision.

"Such a structure would improve the security coordination between the governor and the city police," Tadjus said in a media conference on Tuesday.

He said the city needed a better integrated security system to handle security following a series of bomb blasts and bomb threats in the capital.

He also asked the public to increase awareness in their neighborhoods.

The national police has become an independent force since its separation from the Indonesian Military in July.

With the decree of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), issued on Aug. 18, 2000, the National Police is under the direct supervision of the president.

The police maintain that limited funds and personnel are the main reasons for their minimal support for the city administration. There are around 190,000 police officers in the country, around 25,000 personnel for 8.3 million of people in Jakarta.

In the 2000 state budget, the National Police has been allocated Rp 3.6 trillion to cover expenses.

Sutiyoso said the city administration had the ability to finance police operational expenses and that it would solve the police's financial and personnel problems.

"If the city police are put under the city administration, we can provide funding for them as we will include their expenses in our city budget," Sutiyoso said.

"The city administration would have the authority to decide on the types of police operations and when police assistance is needed.

"Meanwhile, the strategy and management of each police operation will be in their own hands," he added.

Sutiyoso said further that all governors in the country had been making the same proposal, but the central government had yet to reply to the requests.

"We have officially requested for a new provincial police structure through the association of provincial administration, which is led by West Java Governor R. Nuriana, but there has been no reply," he said. (dja)