REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Representatives of the Iraqi government conducted a comparative study regarding the management and implementation of decentralization in the Republic of Indonesia by visiting the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry.

"They (the Iraqi government's representatives) are here to learn about decentralization," Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono noted in a press release here on Thursday.

According to Basuki, the Iraqi government is planning to carry out decentralization.

The minister explained about the duties and authorities of the central, provincial, and district governments.

He cited the example of the authority in the road construction management division, comprising national, provincial, and district roads.

Responsibilities related to irrigation are also divided according to the extent of the area. The central government is responsible to irrigate more than three thousand hectares, the provincial government one thousand to three thousand hectares, and the district government under one thousand hectares.

"Infrastructure, which is managed by the district government, is not up to the mark due to limited funding and human resources," he pointed out.

Earlier, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and the United States Ambassador to Indonesia Robert O. Blake discussed about investment in Indonesia.

"The investment in Indonesia is quite good, one of which is Kualanamu and the rail transport link from Medan to the airport," Blake noted here on Monday.

Blake revealed that Indonesia has become one of the countries to be increasingly viewed by the US employers as a viable investment destination, with a total investment value reaching US$65 billion in the last eight years.

Meanwhile, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono remarked that his ministry has chalked out several priority programs.

Among the several outlined priorities, the ministry has planned to construct 49 dams and restore 3.3 million hectares of irrigated land in a bid to promote food sovereignty.

He added that another priority of his ministry is to boost connectivity by constructing toll and non-toll roads as well as water resources and sanitation facilities and developing the housing sector.

"We have a program of building 1 million houses in one year for the low-income group," he remarked.

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