News Focus: PEOPLE'S WELFARE IMPROVEMENT YET TO BE SEEN IN REGIONAL AUTONOMY by Fardah.

from ANTARA, The Indonesian National News Agency Jakarta, April 25 (ANTARA) - Vice President Boediono led a function to observe the 15th anniversary of Regional Autonomy Day in Bogor, West Java, Monday (April 25). Regional Autonomy Day was also commemorated in regions throughout the country.

Regional Autonomy Day is observed every April 25, based on e Presidential Decree No. 11/1996 on Regional Autonomy. This year's theme is "With the Spirit of Regional Autonomy, We Improve the Regional Administration Implementation Performance in Public Services and Regional Innovation." Indonesia, a country with more than 17,500 islands and a population of aroud 237 million started to implement regional autonomy in 2000. Regional autonomy was implemented based on Law 22/1999 on Regional Autonomy which was proposed by the then BJ Habibie administration and passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) in May 1999. Later, Law 25 on intergovernmental fiscal relations was also passed.

Some experts described …