Yuli Tri Suwarni and Apriadi Gunawan, Bandung/Medan – Businesspeople in West Java and North Sumatra want new governors in the two provinces to retract business-unfriendly bylaws and repair damaged infrastructure blamed for the high-cost economy.
The deputy chairman of the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), Ari Hendarmi, said more than 100 local bylaws were deemed unfavorable to investment due to their inconsistency with laws and regulations issued by the central government.
Businesses in West Java, he said, face a confusing array of permits and licenses they must arrange at different agencies.
They are also burdened by non-compliance charges imposed by a number of regencies and cities, such as for owning power generators and fire safety equipment. The hotel and restaurant industry, he said, is weighed down by numerous fees, which vary from city to city.
"There are too many payments that are very cumbersome, not to mention the time it takes to arrange for the permits," Ari told The Jakarta Post in Bandung on Friday.
He cited Bandung municipality's Bylaw No. 11/2004 on tourism development and promotion permits that now must be extended every year compared to once every five years previously. Hotels are required to pay up to Rp 5 million (approximately US$550) depending on their class, while restaurants must pay an annual fee of Rp 3 million.
Ari said Apindo grouped more than 1,800 businesspeople in the province, from Bekasi, Karawang, Purwakarta and the capital Bandung, to Banjar and Ciamis in the east.
The total value of investments in West Java was Rp 22 trillion in 2007, short of the targeted Rp 27 trillion. Ari said this could be explained by the numerous ineffective ordinances that put off investors.
In North Sumatra, businesspeople located along the east coast of the province called on the new governor to honor his promises during the campaign, especially to address the prolonged power crisis and repairing damaged infrastructure.
Secretary of the North Sumatra chapter of Apindo, Laksamana Adiyaksa, said businesspeople on the province's east coast, mostly palm oil plantation owners, had been hardest hit by the power crisis over the past three years, forcing them to lay off some of their workers.
He said currently there are only 1 million palm oil plantation workers, compared to around 2 million just three years ago. "I'm afraid more companies will go out of business and more workers will lose their jobs if the new governor fails to overcome the power crisis," Adiyaksa told the Post.
The businesspeople hoped the new governor could lobby the central government to use some of its palm oil export earnings to develop the province.
Adiyaksa said if the government set aside 10 percent of the earnings for the province and 5 percent for regencies and cities, the money could be used to develop the province, particularly to improve infrastructure.
Ahmad Heryawan and Dede Yusuf continue to lead the vote count in the West Java election, with 39 percent, or 4.7 million, of 12.7 million votes counted by the provincial General Elections Commission (KPUD).
In Medan, of 1.3 million votes counted by the KPUD, almost 40 percent, or 524,000, have gone to Syamsul Arifin and his running mate Gatot Pudjonugroho. In second is Tri Tamtomo and Benny Pasaribu with 23 percent, or 302,000 votes.