President, governors discuss nat'l development plans

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Cipanas, West Java | Tue, 02/02/2010 2:52 PM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (second left) and Vice President Boediono (second right) chair a meeting of governors at the Cipanas Palace, located at the foot of Mount Gede, West Java, some 103 kilometers south of Jakarta, to discuss the medium-range development plan for 2010 to 2014 on Tuesday. Antara/ Widodo S. Jusuf

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono kicked off on Tuesday a two-day meeting with the Cabinet ministers and the country's 33 governors, discussing the national development plans for the next five years.

Yudhoyo said the meeting was aimed at "synchronizing" and "synergizing" development plans of the central government and the regions.

"I hope in this work meeting we can find solutions for a number of essential issues," the President said in his opening speech for the meeting, taking place from Tuesday to Wednesday at State Palace in Cipanas, West Java.

"I hope after this there will be no more blame game between the central and regional administrations, and the meeting will bring us concrete results that we would need to improve the prosperity of the people," he added.

Yudhoyono explained that participants of the meeting would be divided into six working groups, including those dealing with food and energy security, as well as infrastructure issues.

Then there are those dealing with "pro-people" programs; and with bureaucratic, law enforcement, democracy and security issues.

A single working group is focusing on spatial planning, climate change, land management, and the issues of relationship between the central and local administrations.

"What we'll be doing today is finalizing the systemic process we've started with the national gathering and then the national summit to ensure that the course of the country's developments in the next five years is on the right track," Yudhoyono said, referring to two proceeding events taking place last year.

The participants were also scheduled to hear the presentations of Vice President Boediono on the outcomes of the new government's first 100-day programs, and of National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) head Armida Alisjahbana on the mid-term national development plans (RPJMN) for the 2010-2014 period.

"The main reason why I hope the governors can attend and take active parts in this meeting is to discuss certain issues we've been facing, to debottleneck the sources of gridlocks and problems and to formulate the rightful solutions.

"The governors and related ministers are thus expected to digging deeper into the issues in the working groups," the President said.