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.