Tony Hotland, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono denounced Thursday power-oriented initiatives to create new autonomous regions, which he said exhausted state resources without benefiting the local people.
Yudhoyono said his review of 148 out of the 173 new regions established since the original regional autonomy law was passed in 1999 showed they were mired in problems and unable to perform due to a lack of experience and preparation prior to their establishment.
"It's about time I used clear language on this... we must be strict and brave to turn down demands for new autonomous regions that have no urgency or clear benefits," said Yudhoyono in his annual speech to the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
It was a repeat of his speech last year, although this time his frustration was clearer and bolder.
Proposals to establish new autonomous regions by splitting up provinces or regencies are often attached to attempts to gain power and money, and backed by claims that the move would be good for the local people.
Yudhoyono said new autonomous regions resulted in cutbacks on funds allotted for other, more essential, programs. Moves to create new autonomy regions should be carefully studied, he said.
"What peeves me too is the mentality of local administrations that, despite their autonomy, remain dependent on the central government," he said.
The President's criticism was targeted at administrations demanding a larger share of local funds but which are spending little of them and their local revenue on aggressive development.
He slammed the administrations for not having adequate skills and capacity to draft a local budget, and not having a good relations with the local councils.
He referred to the some Rp 96 trillion (over US$10 billion) of local administrations' savings that were still deposited in the bank at the start of the second quarter of the year, and the Rp 50 trillion in Bank Indonesia certificates by mid-August.
"It's ironic there's a staggering amount of funds sitting idly amid needs for capital in infrastructure or the real sectors," said Yudhoyono.
Autonomy gives regions more power in deciding on many issues – except foreign politics, defense and security, fiscal and monetary policy, religion and the judiciary.
The President also blamed developmental slowness on the local ordinances that are against the law and government regulations.
"These things have negative impacts on the local economy and make it harder to overcome poverty and unemployment," he said.
DPD Speaker Ginandjar Kartasasmita concurred that a lack of experience had resulted in struggling autonomous regions.
But he also lashed out at the central government, saying its die-hard centralized attitude was also keeping autonomy from working.
Yudhoyono defended his decision not to allot the constitutionally mandated 20 percent of the State Budget for education, suggesting that doing so would affect poverty alleviation funds.
"What we deal with in drafting the state budget is that we cannot disregard the allocation for poverty alleviation. But the budget for education will go up from 11.8 percent this year to 12.3 percent," he said.
The President also took time to encourage his citizens to prefer local products, calling on state-owned firms and local private producers to both upgrade quality and bring down prices.