S SULAWESI GOVERNOR RECEIVES TWO AWARDS FROM PRESIDENT

Makassar, S Sulawesi, Nov 26 (ANTARA) - South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo has received two awards from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his success in implementing sustainable spatial layout plan and water source management.

Governor Limpo said on Friday he received the awards from the president in a function marking the conferment of public works awards at the Balai Kartini building in Jakarta the day before.

He said the two awards were inseparable from the province's commitment to implement the mandate of Law No. 26 of 2007 on spatial layout.

South Sulawesi was the first province to complete a regional spatial layout plan on schedule, namely in 2009, the governor said.

South Sulawesi ranks first among the country's 33 provinces in terms of sustainable spatial layout, followed by Bali and Yogyakarta. It also ranks first in the field of water source management, followed by Central Java and Yogyakarta.

The governor said South Sulawesi also won award for its success in lowering illiteracy rate. "These awards signal that we have so far worked (properly)."
Head of the South Sulawesi Provincial Government's Public Relations and Protocol Affairs Bureau Agus Sumantri said the province won the awards thanks to its policy to allocate part of its regional budget to conserve water resources in the past 10 years.

The province was also considered capable of improving local institutions' and people's capacity to make an efficient use of water resources, he said.