Rizki Fachriansyah, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has officially disbanded 18 state bodies deemed irrelevant as the government shifts its focus to COVID-19 pandemic mitigation and national economic recovery.
The move, stipulated in Article 19 of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) No. 82/2020 issued on Monday, is in line with Jokowi's commitment to dissolve a number of institutions in a bid to simplify bureaucracy and alleviate budget constraints amid the ongoing health emergency.
According to the latest regulation, the state bodies that are subject to the disbandment include those that were established within the last 10 years.
These institutions are the Extractive Industry Transparency Team (formed under Perpres No. 26/2010), the National Agriculture Coordinating Board (Perpres No. 10/2011), the Committee for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (Perpres No. 32/2011), the Sunda Slate Infrastructure Development Board (Perpres No. 86/2011) and the Drinking Water Advisory Board (Perpres No. 90/2016).
The others include the National Mangrove Ecosystem Development Coordinating Team (Perpres No. 73/2012), the National Preparations Committee for ASEAN Economic Community (Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 37/2014), the National Electronic Commerce Road Map Committee (Perpres No. 74/2017), the Business Acceleration Task Force (Perpres No. 91/2017) and the Water Company Subsidies Supervisory Team (Perpres No. 46/2019).
The remaining eight are older state bodies whose formation dates back to the 1990s and mid-2000s.
They are the Commercial Overseas Loan Team (established under Keppres No. 39/1991), the National Team for Multilateral Trade (Keppres No. 104/1999), the PLN Restructuration and Rehabilitation Team (Keppres No. 166/1999) and the Financial Policy Committee (Keppres No. 177/1999).
The four others are the Interdepartmental Forestry Committee (Keppres No. 80/2000), the Coordinating Team for Exports and Imports (Keppres No. 54/2002), the National Exports and Investment Team (Keppres No. 3/2006), as well as the Urban Public Housing Construction Acceleration Coordinating Team (Keppres No. 22/2006).
The list, however, did not include three institutions previously mentioned by Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko as among those that would likely be disbanded, namely the National Elderly Commission, the National Sports Standardization and Accreditation Agency (BSANK) and the Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG).
The newly issued regulation also entails the formation of a brand-new state body devoted to the mitigation of the ongoing pandemic and the economic downturn resulting from the health crisis.
In accordance with the regulation, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir is set to oversee the national economic and COVID-19 recovery team.