Home Ministry to review regional autonomy

JAKARTA: A decade after the country welcomed its first autonomous administrative region, the Home Ministry is preparing to review the issue.

Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi said Wednesday the move was aimed at "analyzing the performance" of 205 autonomous regions.

"We will evaluate the regions' wealth, quality of administrative and public services, and their competitiveness," he said.

Data from the evaluation will be used to map and categorize the performances of regional administrations. From this, Gamawan said, the ministry would develop programs and strategies to improve the regions' performances.

Since the passage of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, the government has granted autonomy to seven provinces, 164 regencies and 34 municipalities. - JP