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.