VP wants to visit all RI provinces

Antara News, Saturday, April 10, 2010 10:53 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono said here Friday he wanted to go to all provinces in Indonesia for working visits during his five-year term.

"I want to visit all provinces," he told reporters inside the Indonesian Defence Force`s 737-200 Boeing aircraft flying him to Jakarta from Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Friday.

Accompanied by his spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, Boediono met journalists sitting in back row 30 minutes before the aircraft landed at Jakarta`s Halim Perdanakusumah Airport.

In his conversation with the journalists, Boediono thanked them for joining his working visit to Palu and expressed his willingness to see development progress in all provinces during his vice presidential term.

Asked about the total number of provinces that he had visited since he assumed office, Boediono just answered the question with a smile.

About his two-day visit to Palu, he said he was satisfied with it. During the visit, he met with government officials, teachers and students.

"Our students are now smart and critical. Look at how they raise questions when having a dialogue with me," he said.

When meeting with Central Sulawesi government officials on Thursday, Boediono urged all governors not to "play their own different music" in making their policies, so that they contravene those issued by the central government.

"We should not play our own music. We need to have a song with a harmonious rhythm," he said.

The position of governors as the central government`s representatives in the regions were stipulated in Government Regulation Number 19/2010.

Boediono said provincial governors need to carry out their duties in close coordination with the central government.

The objective of the government regulation was to build an effective coordination between the central and provincial governments, he said.

"The government regulation is not meant to restore the centralistic system of government but to build proper coordination between the provincial and central governments," he said.