West Java hands over assets to Banten

West Java hands over assets to Banten

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The West Java administration surrendered nearly Rp 1 trillion in
assets belonging to its former region of Banten on Thursday, more
than one year after it was declared a new province.

The assets of more than Rp 990 billion were officially handed
over by West Java Governor Nuriana, to his Banten counterpart
Djoko Munandar at the latter's office in Serang.

Nuriana, speaking to journalists after witnessing the final
calculation of the wealth in Bandung on Wednesday, said the
surrendered assets comprised of Rp 51 billion in cash and Rp
943.8 billion in other resources.

The Rp 51 billion was from last year's regional tax revenues
of Banten, which were included into the West Java
administration's treasury, he added.

The amount of money Banten received in tax revenues was much
larger than the Rp30 billion it previously received from the West
Java administration.

"We still collected taxes from Banten last year because the
new province did not have officials to do the job. Besides, the
Banten administration gave temporary authority to West Java
administration," Nuriana said.

Iwan Rosadi, a member of the West Java provincial legislative
council who attended the ceremony, however, said the Banten
administration will recalculate the surrendered assets.

Nuriana further said West Java has also transferred 43,000 of
its civil servants to the administration in Banten, and has
assisted with funds of Rp 400 billion from West Java's budget
since 2000.

The West Java administration's secretary Danny Setiawan,
meanwhile, said three more assets -- representative offices of
West Java Bank, civil servants' dormitories and the Cipondoh pond
-- were still yet to be surrendered to Banten.

Asked why the assets were just surrendered after more than
year, Nuriana said his government had to calculate the wealth
correctly before being handed over to Banten to prevent possible
protests, should it be miscalculated.

"Apart from that, his administration also has to ask for
approval from the West Java legislative council to consider the
value of assets that must be handed over to Banten," he added.

He claimed: "The hand over of the assets means that West Java
has paid its debts to Banten".

Banten officially broke away from West Java as a separate
province on Oct. 4, 2000 after it claimed to have been treated
unfairly by the West Java administration in term of development
fruits.

According to a survey, most residents in Banten are poor, as
result of unequal development there.