When the regional autonomy law came into effect following the fall of the New order government, it was envisioned that regional governments could be empowered to fuel economic growth, fund development and create jobs.

And while some regional governments have implemented progressive policies, the majority of them seem more intent on enriching themselves.

More than a decade after the law came into effect, precious little development in the way of education, health care and infrastructure has taken place.

Rather than boost their budgets through economic growth, most regional governments are still highly dependent on the central government for their funds.

And a recently concluded finding by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) indicates that less than 6 percent of the state budget channeled to provincial and district governments is spent on development and public service. The rest is spent on operations.

Most of the funds are spent on the building of government facilities like offices and buying official cars, Rizal Djalil, a member of the audit agency said in a statement.

Little is allocated to the direct needs of the people and far less so to empower them economically.

Rizal added that regional governments must focus on job creation and economic independence from the central government. In 2010, the central government allocated Rp 344.6 trillion to expedite the development of the newly established regions.

This sum excludes additional aid for social affairs, education and health, which reaches hundreds of trillions of rupiah.

This misallocation of funds must stop, and the central government must take a stronger approach to ensuring the money is spent properly and does not end up being abused.

This is critical given that the BPK report also indicates that some of the funds earmarked for creating economic empowerment had been misdirected to popular programs aimed at strengthening the officials’ political power.

The central government must develop a standardized supervisory system to monitor the use of state money and to ensure that money flows to the people, empowering them and improving their lives.

Regional governments share the blame as they have provided little supervision and control. As a result, corruption is very much rampant.

Since its establishment in 2003, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has received more than 30,000 public complaints of corruption involving local administrations, while countless mayors, district heads and governors have gone to jail for corruption.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said in May last year that it was examining the effectiveness of decentralization and preparing new rules on how regions should manage their finances.

It needs to move fast if public confidence in both the central government and regional governments is to be preserved.

Source : thejakartaglobal.com