West Sulawesi becomes Indonesia's 33rd province

West Sulawesi becomes Indonesia's 33rd province

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The House of Representatives passed the bill establishing West
Sulawesi as a province on Wednesday, bring the number of
provinces in the country to 33.

The plenary meeting was enlivened by the donning of
traditional costumes of the Mandar tribe by Deputy House Speaker
Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno, who presided over the meeting, and
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.

All 50 members of the House special committee deliberating the
bill wore sarongs and "songko Bone" (traditional hats from Bone)
in support of the new province. Bone, the second syllable
pronounced "ne" as in never, is the common name used to refer to
people from West Sulawesi.

"The appointment of the acting governor and the inauguration
of the local administration's offices will follow soon," Hari
Sabarno told a plenary meeting, which was witnessed by around 250
West Sulawesians hailing from the new province's five regencies:
Mamuju, Majene, Polewali Mandar, Mamasa, and North Mamuju.

Following the creation of the new province, the total number
of regencies in the country now stands at 349, while there are 91
municipalities, Hari said.

He said that the endorsement of the bill was in line with
Articles 5 and 6 of the Local Government Law (No. 22/1999) and
the provisions of Government Regulation No. 129/2000 on the
requirements for the establishment of autonomous regions.

The decision to create an autonomous region must take into
consideration its economic capacity, population, geographic size
and its natural resources.

"The establishment of the new province is aimed at improving
public services and natural resources management so as to advance
the welfare of the people," he said.

According to the minister, the establishment of West Sulawesi
province had been agreed upon in 2002. But it was only on Sept.
17, 2004, that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had appointed the
home minister to represent the government during the deliberation
of the bill in the House. The discussion of the bill took two
weeks in total, similar to the time spent on the bills
establishing other new provinces.