Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – How many provinces are there in Indonesia now? This was a simple question for most Indonesians two years ago – 27 provinces – but it will likely puzzle an ordinary Indonesian now.

A top government official, when asked this question recently, was startled for a second before coming up with: 'Twenty-nine? 30? I'm not sure anymore.'

Officially, there are 32 provinces, after the addition of six new provinces since last year and after East Timor voted for independence in last year's ballot.

In practice, however, only 30 of them really exist. Two additional provinces in the eastern-most part of Irian Jaya have received little support from the locals since their establishment by President B.J. Habibie's administration last year.

Only North Maluku, established last year as part of Jakarta's efforts to appease sectarian conflicts in Maluku, has had widespread support.

The birth of new provinces was made possible by a new autonomy law. In the Past two months alone Parliament – eager to please local constituents – has approved the establishment of three new provinces.

They are Banten, formerly a regency in West Java; the Bangka and Belitung province, both islands previously part of South Sumatra; and, on Tuesday, Gorontalo, which would cut North Sulawesi in half.

In February, when community groups circulated a draft Bill to establish a Banten province, many were sceptical that it would get any notice by lawmakers. But the House actually deliberated and passed the Bill, and community leaders from other areas – seeing how easy it was to gain regional autonomy – began drafting their own.

Of course, it helped that Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy minister Surjadi Soedirdja is from Banten and that some of the lawmakers have publicly revealed their ambition to be elected governor in the industry-rich new province.

But many are concerned that this eagerness has made both Parliament and community leaders blind to the most important aspect of establishing a new province: economic capacity.

Said Mr Andi Malaranggeng, one of the authors of the regional-autonomy policy: "If the establishment of these new provinces follows the requirement stipulated in the law No 22, then they are justified." The law stipulates that in order for a new province to be established, there must be wide support from the local residents and economic potential to support the new provincial administration. Parliament has to secure the approval of the local government and legislature of the mother province before it gives its stamp of approval.

But Mr Andi, now the chairman of the policy committee in the UNDP's Partnership in Good Governance with Indonesia, expressed his concern that emotional and political factors driving the establishment of the new provinces have made economy a "second priority".

Distance has also been cited as one of the reasons for the need to establish new provinces. Making Bangka and Belitung a province would help improve public service to residents in the two islands, which are far off the South Sumatra mainland.

In reality, however, other factors like ethnicity, religion or historical issues have been the real drive behind the decision. Gorontalo, which spreads over some 12 million sq km of land, has a majority Muslim population in the otherwise Christian North Sulawesi.

Whereas the rest of West Java is inhabited by ethnic Sundanese, Banten, a historical port city in the western tip of Java, has a population that is related more to the Javanese in terms of culture, ethnicity and language.

But to the handful of elites pushing for the establishment of new provinces, money and power could be their biggest motivation. Indonesia is gearing towards the start of regional autonomy next year, which means a lot more power will be handed over to the local administration. This explains why there are currently over 100 requests for the establishment of new regencies.

Meanwhile, some places are just too valuable to be released by their provincial government, like the "Riau archipelago province" off inland Riau. The archipelago consists of highly commercial and touristy islands like Batam and Bintan, and the Riau provincial government has refused to approve the establishment of the new province.

Jakarta, too, seems alarmed by this surge of interest in breaking up from the mother province. Said Minister Surjadi: "I hope Gorontalo will be the last new province for a while, and that in the future we will be more selective." He added: "The new provinces were established to improve the welfare of its people. If they failed to do this, they should not hesitate to reunite with their mother provinces."

The new provinces

Banten (formerly part of West Java) Approved: Oct 5, 2000 Area: 8,200 sq km Population: Nine million Economic potential: Steel industry, fishery and port facilities Background: Ethnic Banten unlike the Sundanese who make up the rest of West Java, are more related to the Javanese

Bangka and Belitung (two islands formerly part of South Sumatra) Approved: Nov 20, 2000 Population: 884,656 Area: 16,423.54 sq km Economic potential: Agro-business, fishery Background: The two islands are far from the mainland South Sumatra and the locals feel they do not have historical attachment to the mother province

Gorontalo (formerly a regency in North Sulawesi) Approved: Dec 5, 2000 Area: 844,733 Population: 12,2115.44 aq km Economic potential:Plantation fishery, farming Background: Gorontalo is mainly Muslim, while the majorifty of North Sulawesi"s population is Christian