West Java set to have anniversary to celebrate

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The West Java political elite has been uneasy due to the absence of a major provincial anniversary celebration, which it considered had something to do with the low participation of ordinary people in the provincial development program.

Eka Santosa, chairman of the West Java provincial legislative council, said not only religious and informal leaders but also local authorities had been uneasy as, unlike other provinces, West Java had no provincial anniversary to celebrate.

"We have no anniversary to celebrate to maintain our unity, both emotionally and culturally, and this has long since made the people less proactive in their participation in local development programs," he said in a seminar here on Monday to identify the province's anniversary.

Besides, he added, policymakers in the province had no clearly identified moment at which to reflect upon and evaluate their performance in implementing the development program.

"If the province had its own anniversary to celebrate, it would have been a good moment for the local political elite to evaluate its performance annually," he said.

Husein Jachjasaputra, assistant to the governor for administration affairs, conceded that the provincial administration had once proposed celebrating its anniversary to the central government. However, the latter turned it down, fearing that the province, which had hosted a number of international events, including the 1955 non-aligned movement conference, was trapped by its own parochial interests.

"We should bear in mind that West Java, especially Bandung, has a strategic position to support the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in political and security matters," he said.

Achmad Mansyur, a historian from the Padjadjaran University in the city, proposed Aug. 19 as the province's anniversary, as the former steering committee for Indonesian independence (PPKI) had established West Java (Lesser Sunda), along with six other provinces, as part of Indonesia's territory two days after Indonesian independence had been declared on Aug. 17, 1945.

The other six provinces were Central Java, East Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Maluku.

He added that West Java province originally included Jakarta and Banten, the latter of which was declared a separate province last year.

Edi S. Ekadjati, an expert in Sundanese history, said that West Java province had been established during the Dutch colonial era when the Dutch ruler issued Staatsblad) (Decree) No. 378 on Aug. 14, 1925, which stipulated that West Java, Central Java and East Java were autonomous provinces.

"This historical event should be taken into consideration in determining the province's anniversary," he said.

Husein said the province's history would be considered in designing a bylaw on the province's anniversary before a draft was proposed to the provincial legislature for endorsement.

"The provincial administration wants the province to celebrate its anniversary for the first time in 2002 to strengthen the emotional and cultural ties of local people to a local movement in order to speed up the development program in all fields," he said.