REGOM (reinventing government administration) is a reform movement
and transformation of city administration management introduced by the
United States government as a development breakthrough to boost
efficiency, effectiveness and government management performance.
The approach was later introduced to other countries, both developed
and developing countries. REGOM consisted of three approach principles,
(1) de-bureaucratization; (2) financial, organization and management
restructuring and (3) privatization.
In developing a city, many advanced nations adopted this principle on
areas with certain characteristics that have strong selling points,
such as core city areas, hearts of the city, old ports, areas with
historical backgrounds, waterfronts and more. The reason being, the
locations are deemed to have strategic values, offering certain
gimmicks/genus loci which are non-renewable, highly controlled,
priceless, such as heritage value, waterfronts, harbor fronts/harbor
sides, inner down-towns, main street corridors and more. The movement is
also often linked to prestigious missions that carry themes such as
“awakening”, reflecting on past glories that can instil a development
spirit with terms like revitalization, rebirth, renaissance,
regeneration, reshaping and more.
The success of this movement is usually contributed by a driving
factor. In England, for example, it is associated with a privatization
policy breakthrough which was massively launched by Margaret Thatcher
through Action for Cities, which was aimed to restore pride to the city
(to discover the sense of civic pride). Action for cities targets is to
reorganize inner cities with the REGOM approach as a ”participatory”
strategy that involved all ”stakeholders” in city development. To
achieve the goal, Thatcher formed an action group which consisted of
action men and established the Urban Development Corporation, an
independent body that runs core city areas in six cities, including
London, Liverpool and Thyne.
The facilities created to support the programs were: (1) urban
programs that regulated government-private sector-public cooperation:
(2) urban development grants to help fund development of old city areas;
(3) urban regeneration grants to help private sectors to develop former
industrial areas; (4) derelict development grants to help the private
sector in purchasing abandoned industrial estates; (5) land registers to
provide information on abandoned estates in cities and other
regulations. London Dockland in London and Albert Dock in Liverpool,
England, were two success stories of this approach.
The REGOM movement synergy, which is aimed at strategic areas in city
development, was a new phenomenon launched by a visionairy utopian, who
efficiently motivated developments that generated wide participation,
including triggering a national movement. Participation and
transparancy, as elements to support democracy in development, carried a
strategic meaning that could potentially create a sense of belonging to
all players involved in the development process. The effectiveness of
REGOM highly depended on all factors mentioned above.
The same spirit was also adopted by Yayasan Pelestari Budaya Bangsa
(YPBB), which carried out a pilot project for Indonesia to reorganize
Bandar Nusantara. Bandar Lama Sunda Kalapa was chosen as a pilot model.
The first step was to design a master plan to accommodate common
aspirations by reaching a consensus among development executors by
involving development consultants and NGOs to serve as advocates in
every aspect of the development in a partnership environment: (1)
government sector, with consultancy team (development consultant as
facilitator) for city areas; (2) private sector: KWB Sunda Kelapa
business community; (3) community sector, with non governmental
organizations as community facilitator, in this case Kampung Nelayan
Tradisional Luar Batang as the pilot model. The “Kampung Luar Batang”
community development program was a nine-year project (1988-1997), which
could be categorized as an initial step to participatory development
which grew purely from the grassroots in Jakarta.
The establihment of a special body in the development of PANTURA area
which carried ”The Revival of Jayakarta” as its theme, could
potentially lift the area or parts of it with a specific value, as a
pilot model in the implementation of REGOM. The project was funded by
the Bremen Overseas Research Development Agency (BORDA) as was proposed
by the Yayasan Pelestari Budaya Bangsa.
A globalization spirit indicates an urgent need for an anticipatory
policy strategy that emphasizes on empowerment of city external
functions. A counter strategy which requires professionalism and modern
city management quality is supported by strong political will to build a
”fortress of maritime spirit” of Bandar Nusantara from Sabang to
Marauke in response to the upcoming global era as the main target.
Bandar Nusantara is waiting for a touch of participative development
as stated above. The rebuilding of Sunda Kelapa reminds us of the
Baltimore revival efforts during the economic recession. The initiative
launched by Jakarta can serve as a lesson for other Bandar Nusantara
pilot projects from Sabang to Marauke that displayed an effort by a city
administration to implement structural reforms as a survival strategy
to overcome urbanization pressure and to preserve culture.
The Genderang Bahari was formed as a task force that carried a
patriotic mission called ’Kebangkitan Semangat Bahari Indonesia’ or the
Rediscovery of the Indonesian maritime spirit under a theme ’A decade of
achievements 2010–2020’, with Bandar Nusantara as a symbolic ”light
house” to welcome the challenging global era in 2020.
The birth of Genderang Bahari was spontaneous and took place during
the 65th commemoration of Proclamation of the Republic of Indonesia at
Sultan Hotel, Jakarta, initiated by maritime advocates driven by the
awareness and the need to revive the maritime spirit as a mandate which
is believed to have the power to guide younger generations to face the
future with aplomb.
The idea was written down during the commemoration of Hari Nusantara
on 13 December 2010 and is expected to touch our hearts as citizens of
an archiplegic nation to reach the future with greatness and glory of
our marine predecessors.
The writer is secretary general of Genderang Bahari, a task force
with ‘a patriotic mission to rediscover the Indonesian maritime
spirit’.
Source: http://thepresidentpost.com
