The Zelfbestuursverordening of 21 January 1928 (Pidie alang-alang) — printed in the 1930 compilation of Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden as Regulation No. 23 — is the verordening (ordinance) of the afdeeling (district) Pidie establishing rules on the burning of alang-alang (cogon grass, Imperata cylindrica) and other begroeiingen (vegetation) on woeste gronden (waste lands) in the landschappen (territories) of the afdeeling. Issued jointly by the Zelfbestuurders (self-governors) of twenty-six landschappen of the afdeeling Pidië in overleg met de Plaatselijk Besturende Ambtenaren in en den Assistent-Resident van de Afdeeling Pidie (in consultation with the Local Administering Officials in and the Assistant-Resident of the District Pidie), and approved by the Gouverneur van Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden (Governor of Atjeh and Dependencies) on 30 April 1928, it is the final regulation in the compilation — closing the volume with the most broadly-scoped territorial regeling (regulation) and the only one that explicitly invokes reboisatie (reforestation) as a motive.
The regulation as final entry of the compilation
Reg. No. 23 occupies the last pages of the compilation (pp. 133–134 of the printed book; the OCR’s reading of “138” on page 145 is a misreading of the printed “133”). The chunk of OCR text from which it is extracted ends at the end of Fatsal 4, which is the inwerkingtreding-clause (entry-into-force clause) and is therefore typically the last article of a regulation — Reg. No. 23 thus appears to be the regulation on which the compilation closes. The recital cites the Staatsblad 1927 No. 190 — the only regulation in the compilation to invoke this Staatsblad — and the OCR’s misreading “19G” is corrected by the Malay column, which reads “190”. Given Reg. No. 23’s explicit invocation of reboisatie, the Staatsblad 1927 No. 190 is most likely a forest / reboisatie-Staatsblad (reforestation statute) of the late colonial state.
Prohibition on uncontrolled alang-alang burning
Fatsal 1 / Artikel 1 (Article 1) prohibits on woeste gronden (waste lands) (a) the burning of alang-alang, other grass, struikgewas (shrubbery), or begroeiingen without the schriftelijke vergunning (written permission) of the Zelfbestuur, and (b) the laying of fires in such a way as to endanger such begroeiingen. Fatsal 2 / Artikel 2 requires that permitted burns — and burns on bebouwde terreinen (cultivated terrains) — be watched to prevent spread. Fatsal 3 / Artikel 3 sets the standard penalty: a maximum of one hundred guilders or three months’ hechtenis (detention). Fatsal 4 / Artikel 4 sets the inwerkingtreding on the thirtieth day after the goedkeuring (approval) by the Gouverneur.
The recital states the motive explicitly:
“Overwegende dat het gewenscht is, bepalingen in het leven te roepen ter bescherming van begroeinneen op woeste gronden en ter bevorde- ring van en om hydrologische rede- nen gunstig geachte reboisatic.”
— “Whereas it is desirable to institute provisions for the protection of vegetation on waste lands, and for the promotion of reboisatie (reforestation) favourable on hydrological grounds.” The reboisatie (reforestation) motive — the only explicit reforestation reference in the compilation — and the hydrologische redenen (hydrological reasons) for the regulation together articulate the late-colonial conservation policy that had developed in the Netherlands-Indies since the early 1920s. The invocation of reboisatie distinguishes Reg. No. 23 from the Takingeun alang-alang regulation of 20 May 1924 (Reg. No. 22), which had been framed primarily in terms of fire-prevention and the protection of the dennenbosschen (pine-forests).
Penalty structure
The penalty-structure of Reg. No. 23 follows the standard pattern of the compilation: the maximum penalty is f 100 of 3 maanden hechtenis — one hundred guilders or three months’ detention. There is no aanbrenger-premie (informer’s reward) and no provision for arbeidstelling (public-works labour); the regulation thus takes the simplest penal form of any fire-prevention regulation in the compilation. The two earlier fire-prevention regulations — Reg. No. 22 (Takingeun) and Reg. No. 17 (Kloeet-Troemon’s female-cattle-slaughter ban) — both employ more elaborate penalty-arrangements, including the substitution-rule of art. 30 of the Wetboek van Strafrecht (Penal Code) in Reg. No. 22 and the aanbrenger-premie in Reg. No. 17. Reg. No. 23’s reliance on the standard f 100 / 3-months maximum reflects the more straightforward administrative character of the Pidië regulation, which is concerned solely with the vergunning-system (permit-system) and the bebouwde terreinen supervision.
Significance
The Zelfbestuursverordening van 21 January 1928 closes the Zelfbestuursverordeningen compilation with the broadest territorial regeling in the volume — covering all twenty-six landschappen of the afdeeling Pidie — and the only one that explicitly invokes reboisatie (reforestation) as a motive. Its signatory-clause naming twenty-six landschappen — “Pidië, Keumangan, Ndjong, Gloempang Pajoeng, Ië Leubenë, Pinenëng, Gigièng, Bambi en Oenoë, Aron, Kroečng Seumidenën, Sama Indra, Arêi, Iboih, Meureudoe, Trieng Gading, Panté Radja, Reubet, Keumala, Titenë, Tjoembo, Troeseb, Andeuë en Lala, Me Tareuem, Ilot, Tangsé en Geumpang” — is the longest signatory-clause in the compilation. It extends the fire-prevention regime first established for Takingeun by Reg. No. 22 of 20 May 1924 to the densely-populated north-coast afdeeling of Pidië, and signals the late-colonial state’s growing interest in reboisatie as a hydrological-protective measure in the late 1920s. As the final regulation of the compilation, it also marks the chronological endpoint of the corpus of zelfbestuursverordeningen that the Afdeeling Bestuurszaken der Buitengewesten (Department of Administrative Affairs of the Outer Regions) assembled for publication in 1930.
See Also
- Pidie
- Zelfbestuursverordening 20 Mei 1924 (Takingeun alang-alang)
- Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Zelfbestuur
- Meureudoe
- Trieng Gading
- Pante Radja
- Staatsblad 1919 No. 822
- 1928
Source
Zelfbestuursverordeningen Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, Serie A No. 9 of the Mededeelingen van de Afdeeling Bestuurszaken der Buitengewesen van het Departement van Binnenlandsch Bestuur, Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1930, Reg. No. 23 (Zelfbestuursverordening van 21 Januari 1928), pp. 133–134. OCR-filename: 20260719_030404_DLP-112-Zelfbestuursverordeningen_Atjeh_en_onderhoorigheden_Nemotron-OCR-v2_OCR.txt.