In drafting the technical regulations for the relocation of the capital city, the government must take public aspirations into account. Only then will the derivative regulations, in the form of government regulations and
By
Kompas Team
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo (WAK)
President Joko Widodo together with the Governor of East Kalimantan Isran Noor inspected the location of the candidate for the national capital in the Sepaku area, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, Tuesday (17/12/2019).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The relocation of the nation’s capital to East Kalimantan must be transparent and remain the property of the public. The public needs to be involved in every discussion over the derivative regulations of the State Capital Law, which was recently passed by the House of Representatives (DPR).
Article 96, Paragraph 4 of the law concerning the establishment of legislation emphasizes that every draft regulation must be easily accessible by the public in order to provide opportunities for public participation.
According to data compiled by Kompas Research and Development (Litbang), the State Capital Law contains 14 articles that need further details through technical regulations, which include presidential decrees (Kepres), presidential regulations (Perpres) and government regulations (PP).
According to a Kompas Litbang poll, 50 percent of respondents believe that the capital will be successfully relocated by 2024, while 45.5 percent of respondents were unsure. However, almost 60 percent of respondents admitted that they were not aware that the House had passed the bill. The bill’s deliberation was quite short, taking less than two months.
The public also hopes that the democratic process will be upheld in the new capital, which was illustrated by 45.6 percent of respondents who do not agree with the government’s plan to directly appoint the head of the new capital. Meanwhile, 37 percent of respondents agreed.
On several occasions, President Joko Widodo said that the capital city relocation project was not merely about moving the buildings containing government institutions and agencies. The main objective of the mega project was to develop a capital city that was smart, globally competitive and a new locomotive for national transformation.
In an animated video, new and renewable energy is to fuel the new capital, Nusantara. There are also windmills and electric cars.
Kompas/Priyombodo (PRI)
Heavy equipment activity builds an access road to the Sepaku Semoi dam project site in North Penajem Paser Regency, East Kalimantan, Thursday (11/3/2021). The dam, which is planned to have a volume capacity of about 11 million cubic meters, was built to meet the raw water needs of the city of Balikpapan and is projected to be one of the supporting sources of raw water for the new State Capital.
Although the video offers an image of a futuristic city, drafting the technical regulations for the State Capital Law cannot exclude the public. Executive Director of the Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of Regional Autonomy, Herman Nurcahyadi Suparman, said on Friday (28/1/2022) that drafting the technical regulations for the new capital needed monitoring, since the structure, work procedure and regulations related to the new capital were not explicitly regulated in the State Capital Law.
These are to be detailed in government and presidential regulations. The specific and explicit authorities that appear in the law relate only to investment.
Another complication that has arisen, according to Herman, is the issue of the head of the local new capital city administration. Unlike other regional heads, the head of the new capital is a ministerial-level post under the direct appointment and dismissal of the President. Thus, the new capital city administration will fall under House supervision, whereas regional administrations are under the supervision of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
“Public input is needed for joint deliberations so that the derivative regulations in the form of PP and Perpres can be accepted by the public,” he said.
The people living in the area around the site of the new capital, continued Herman, must also be invovled. As a new city, the capital will need support from the surrounding area.
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) constitutional law lecturer Zainal Arifin Mochtar added that in drafting the derivative regulations, the government must also consider the ties between the State Capital Law and other laws, particularly the stipulation on “land clusters” in the Job Creation Law.
In fact, the Constitutional Court had already decided that in the next two years, no derivative regulations of the jobs law that could have a crucial impact on the public may be created, as long as the law’s formulative procedure hasd not been improved.
“To issue a PP on land, is it even possible?” said Zainal.
Open
According to Institutional and Regulatory Working Group chairwoman Diani Sadia Wati of the capital city relocation coordination team, developing the law’s implementing regulations would be open to the public. “Public participation is specifically regulated in an article of the State Capital Law,” she said.
Presidential Staff Deputy I Febry Calvin Tetelepta said that until the status of the nation’s capital was transferred from Jakarta to Nusantara, the East Kalimantan provincial administration, the Kutai Kertanegara regency administration, the North Penajam Paser regency administration and the Balikpapan administration would continue to carry out their usual regional administrative duties. (REK/SYA/PDS/INA/WKM/CAS)
