A Number Of DPRD Factions Reject The Proposal To Merge The Four Riau Islands OPDs

Riau Islands DPRD members discuss OPD / Antara

JAKARTA - A number of factions of the Riau Islands Provincial DPRD rejected the proposal from the Special Committee for Changes in the Work Organizational Structure (SOTK) regarding the Merger of Four Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD) within the Riau Islands Provincial Government.

“There were several points of proposal submitted by the Special Committee for Changes in SOTK, but some were agreed upon and some were not. The rejection was conveyed accompanied by written arguments through the final views of the factions," said Secretary of Commission I of the Riau Islands DPRD, Muhammad Syahid Ridho, as reported by Antara, Thursday, August 19.

The PKS politician explained that based on a draft submitted by the Special Committee, the Department of Industry and Trade (Disperindag) proposed to be merged into one OPD with the Office of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises.

Then the Department of Tourism discourse merged with the Department of Culture. However, there are several reasons that led to the rejection of a number of factions.

He admits that the Industry and Trade Department and the UKM Cooperative Office are in the same economic clump, but in terms of tasks and functions, they are very different, so specialization is needed, because if they are combined, it is feared that it will have an impact on policy.

"In addition, of course the changes made must be in line with the vision and mission of the Governor of Riau Islands," he explained.

Even so, his party agreed to the expansion of three new OPD within the Riau Islands Provincial Government. First, the Education and Training Agency is independent from the Training and Human Resources Agency, the Border Agency is separated from the Government Bureau, and the Liaison Agency is separated from the Public Relations, Protocol, and Liaison Bureau.

“This also requires specialization of tasks and functions, such as the Liaison Agency because we have an office in Jakarta. However, for the operation of vehicles belonging to the General Bureau, it is hoped that an evaluation will be carried out by the special committee after listening to the views of the factions," he said. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Golkar faction of the Riau Islands Provincial DPRD, Teddy Jun Askara, stated the reason for his rejection of the discourse on the merger of the four OPDs within the Riau Islands Provincial Government.

According to him, the existence of the Riau Islands Provincial Tourism Office still needs to be given a special room considering that Riau Islands is a tourism area. Then the Department of Culture, is very irrelevant if it is merged again.

"We don't want it if the merger or amalgamation of these four OPDs contradicts the governor's vision and mission which will be drafted in the Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD)," he said.