Jakarta, Ekuatorial – Though previously denied the rumor, Heru Prasetyo, head of Indonesia’s initiative to reduce emission from deforestation and degradation, known as REDD+ agency, confirmed that he had received letter from the president instructing on merging the agency into the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, on Wednesday (28/1), in Jakarta.
The Presidential Regulation, known for its abbreviation as Perpres, was signed on January 21 and took effect on January 23, revoked the 2013 Presidential Regulation on REDD+ Agency and the 2008 Presidential Regulation on National Council on Climate Change or DNPI.
Both institutions will be working under the newly established Directorate General of Climate Change within the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
“We are still reading on the presidential regulation,” said Prasetyo on a short message to Ekuatorial and gave no further details.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry still has home works to finish off, especially on organizational structure and employment composition. Apart from the minister’s position, which is currently hold by Siti Nurbaya Bakar, other positions must be agreed by the Ministry of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform. However, up to Thursday (27/1), a source said that both ministries have yet to decide on second echelon positions. “Because, the process to decide on presidential regulation is a bit slow, there has yet any certainty on the staff composition. After the regulation was issued, we hope that the composition can be agreed upon,” said the source adding that the position as director general of climate change control has been decided to be done through open recruitment.
The source also said that civil servants of both REDD+ agency and DNPI would be returned to previous posts. But, there were still no decisions on employees under working agreement. “Honestly, we still have no clue on their status after this merger,” said the source. IGG Maha Adi