Anita Rachman – A decade after the country launched its decentralization drive, the promised prosperity for the regions has failed to materialize, one of the policy's key proponents said on Wednesday.

Ryaas Rasyid, a former home affairs minister and one of the architects of regional autonomy, said there had been no significant advancements since the autonomy law was implemented.

"We have seen no improvement in prosperity between the era prior to decentralization and a decade later," said Ryaas, who is also a former state minister for regional autonomy, a post that no longer exists. "The poverty rate has not dropped significantly and the unemployment rate has, in fact, increased."

In the reform era that followed the fall of President Suharto in 1998, the central government began to delegate its powers to the regions with the aim of ensuring more effective development there. Seven new provinces, 173 new districts and 35 new municipalities were created between 1999 and the end of 2008.

Ryaas said a review of the policy needed to be undertaken. He cited the regions' lack of resourcefulness and their inability to manage the authority awarded to them, as well as the central government's lack of commitment, as the main causes of the failure.

Ryaas said in many regions, particularly in the provinces of East and West Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Papua, no apparent improvements had been seen.

"I understand that the human resources in the regions may not be ready [for autonomy], but here is the thing: that needs to improve," he said. "If we're talking about being ready, none of us are."

Political observers have said that under the decentralization drive, the authority of the heads of regional governments has grown stronger while supervision by the central government has been weak.

However, Ryaas said the country should not scrap decentralization. To reach its goals, including the eradication of poverty, the government needs to support the regions with proper regulations and conduct intensive evaluations at least every five years, he said.

He also questioned the wisdom of giving the regions full authority to manage their own territories.

"The government initially intended that the provinces would stand in for the central government in their territories," he said. "So far, no government decree has been issued to regulate this."

Ryaas also said the government should turn down any petitions to establish new provinces or districts, because there were already too many new regions, each with its own budgetary implications.

"The government does not have a blueprint or projection of the number of provinces, municipalities or districts it wants to have in the next, say, hundred years," he said.

Ryaas said the process of establishing new territories was rife with corruption and short-sighted greed.

Ryaas also criticized regional elections as useless drains on the government's budget. He said that the elections only "tend to bring cronies into the bureaucracy and kick out any non-supporters."