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After the fall of president Suharto Indonesia implemented sweeping decentralizationreforms with the goal of rebalancing powers and responsibilities between the centralgovernment and the regions. Among the raft of new laws was legislation that allowedfor increased proliferation (pemekaran) at the district/municipality and provinciallevel. In theory administrative proliferation would increase citizen participation andefliciency in governance. After 12 years the number of districts in Indonesia has nearlydoubled, but there are indications that the performance of new regions is not living up to expectations. This paper examines one case: the creation of the administrative municipality ofSungai Penuh, which was split offfrom Kerinci District, Jambi Province, Sumatra, in 2009. I find that the process of new region creation in Kerinci has been dominated by local elites and has actually decreased unity within the district and has given rise to a movement to further sub—divide the district. The implementation of pemekaran created new tensions, and very likely will undermine the medium and long term prospects for development in the region. |
