West Java set to have anniversary to celebrate

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.