Local policy-making mechanisms - Forest Climate Center

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Local Policy-making Mechanismsit is essential to prevent local regulationsfrom benefiting well-connected andwealthy individuals or groups, whichwould fuel public resentment, and couldlead to serious local conflicts. Thereneeds to be a clear mechanism for localpeople and the wider public to voicetheir aspirations and actively take partin the policy-making process, thus it isalso important to formulate a regulationregarding public consultation mechanismsto clarify how the public may be involvedin the process, execution and monitoringof the regulations.6.2 Recommendations6.2.1 Recommendations for policyformulation mechanismsBased on the results of the study of TanjabbarDistrict forestry regulations, the study team hasformulated the following recommendations:1. The District Government of Tanjabbarshould conduct a judicial review and anin-depth evaluation/revision of the threeforestry regulations.2. National regulations also need to bereviewed and reformulated to allowdistricts to issue policies based onlegitimate local needs and aspirations,provided that they do not contradict widelyaccepted national principles. Districts oftenimplement divergent policies becausehigher regulations do not reflect districtrealities, or because districts see themas serving powerful interests in centralgovernment. A process of legal draftingat central government level involving theaffected districts would ensure that higherregulations were applicable, equitable andrelevant to local stakeholders’ needs. Thiswould help ensure district compliance.3. The District Government of Tanjabbarmust involve local villagers and villageauthorities, alongside universities, NGOs,the executive branch, legislative branch,the press, the private sector and the militaryand police in a multi-stakeholder forum.This forum could act as an arbitrationbody to resolve problems and conflictsarising from the implementation of theforestry policies in Tanjabbar. This stepmust be taken in order to anticipate andresolve the conflicts and continually adaptand improve district forestry policies andmethods of implementation.4. An allocation of human and financialresources is needed to support publicparticipation processes. The regionalbudget must include a provision forCommunity Participation Funds/DanaPartisipasi Masyarakat (DPM).5. The District Government of Tanjabbar,along with the universities and NGOs,must support local village institutions tostrengthen village autonomy, particularlyin the forestry sector, through trainingactivities for village officials, VillageRepresentative Bodies (BPD) and adatcommunity members. This step will becritical if the district government is tosupport self-reliance in the villages.6. To give local regulations greaterlegitimacy with constituents and promotetheir involvement in policy making, aregulation is needed to set out mechanismsfor formulating participatory districtregulations. The reasons for this need inTanjabbar are as follows:a. There is no clear mechanism for localpeople to voice their aspirations and toparticipate actively in the formulationof regulations.b. There are still substantial flaws in theregulations that have already beenformulated.c. Properly formulated regulations maybe used by the local government andlocal parliament as guidelines forformulating local regulations that fulfilthe principles of good governance;they would also demonstrate an effortto rebuild public trust and improvelocal democracy.36
Sudirman, Dede Wiliam and Nely Herlina7. There are several mechanisms to supportpublic participation in formulatingpolicies:a. Policy action research and/or academicpapers;b. Open discussions such as seminars,workshops, etc.;c. Publication of policy memos, policynewsletters or announcements in theprint media;d. Interactive dialogue in electronic andbroadcast media (radio, TV, E-mail,fax) etc.;e. Hearings with the local parliament;f. Requesting stakeholders’ inputs bysending them draft regulations andrelevant information regarding drafts.6.2.2 Recommendations for permitgrantingmechanisms1. An official and transparent mechanismis needed for permit applications.This mechanism should be easilyunderstandable and accessible to all. Itcould be initiated through the revision ofthe district regulations and decrees.2. Fees should be set for acquiring permits, toprevent funds from entering the accountsof certain officials rather than the accountof the District Government.3. The time limit for approval/rejection ofapplications must be clearly set.4. The permit application must be announcedto the public (especially in the locationwhere the permit has been applied for)to ensure that local people have anopportunity to influence the application,and that the permit is not used outside thedesignated location.5. Close monitoring and control by theDistrict Forestry and Estate Crops Officeand local community institutions arerequired to prevent illegal logging in BukitTigapuluh National Park.6. A regulation is needed that clearlystipulates how revenues generated fromthe forestry sector will be shared betweenthe district and local communities (villageor adat institutions).7. Local regulations should be publicly,regionally and nationally oriented towardssustainable use of local forest resources.8. The national government should workwith district governments to establisha framework for developing districtregulations capable of meeting local needsin line with commonly accepted nationalstandards.37
Page 1 and 2: Case Studies on Decentralization an
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Page 6 and 7: Tables and FiguresTablesTable 1. Di
Page 8 and 9: Pansus Panitia Khusus, Special Comm
Page 10 and 11: in the five locations: Hasanuddin U
Page 13 and 14: 1INTRODUCTION1.1 BackgroundIndonesi
Page 15 and 16: Sudirman, Dede Wiliam and Nely Herl
Page 23 and 24: 3LEGAL ANALYSIS OF TANJUNG JABUNG B
Page 41 and 42: 5IMPACTS OF IMPLEMENTING DECENTRALI
Page 47: 6CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS6.1
Page 55 and 56: 8REFERENCESAnonymous 1999 Surat Kep
Page 57 and 58: 9ANNEX 1. INTRODUCTORY NOTES OF PLE
Page 62 and 63: The Center for International Forest

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