Councillors demand higher pay, benefits<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Despite their dismal record passing legislation, city councillors
\nare demanding an increase in salary and benefits in 2006 and are
\nthreatening to stall the city budget deliberations until they get
\nit.<\/p>\n
Council speaker Ade Surapriatna said on Friday that should the
\ngovernment ignore their demands, councillors would not deliberate
\nthe city's 2006 budget.<\/p>\n
"The City Council will abide by a decision of the consultative
\nbody of provincial legislators across the country not to discuss
\ncity budgets for 2006 if the government does not accommodate our
\ndemands," Ade said.<\/p>\n
The demand for a pay hike comes despite the councillors' poor
\nrecord in council chambers. Since their inauguration in August
\nlast year, city councillors have managed to deliberate and pass
\nthree bylaws, far lower than their target of 22 bylaws to August,
\nor two a month.<\/p>\n
The salary and benefits for council members are regulated by
\nthe central government through Presidential Decree No 24\/2004 on
\nprotocol and financial for leaders and members of regional
\ncouncils (DPRD).<\/p>\n
The salary package for councillors are different in each
\nregion, depending on their financial status.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, each councillor earns a basic salary of around Rp
\n3 million a month, which inflates to at least Rp 20 million
\n(US$1,941) monthly when benefits are included.<\/p>\n
Should city councillors carry out their threat, the Jakarta
\nadministration said it would use this year's budget, who stood at
\nsome Rp 14 trillion (US$1.4 billion) for next year.<\/p>\n
Ade said that legislative councils nationwide had asked for
\nthe central government to provide official vehicles, housing
\nallowances and higher health insurance for councillors, as well
\nas operational funds for council leaders.<\/p>\n
"If the governor is entitled to operational funds, why not
\ncouncil leaders? We often donate our own money to victims of
\nnatural disasters because there is no budget allocation for it,"
\nAde said.<\/p>\n
"And if officials of the city administration up to the
\nsubdistrict heads get official vehicles, why not city
\ncouncillors, he said.<\/p>\n
Ade said councillors were also asking for the replacement of
\nthe term "house rental fees" as stated in the presidential decree
\nwith the phrase "house allowance."<\/p>\n
"If we use rental fees, there will be a legal consequence for
\ncouncillors who do not use the facility for renting a house.
\nMeanwhile, if the fund is treated as allowance, there will be no
\nlegal consequences. Councillors can freely use the money (for
\nwhatever they want)," he said.<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso earlier issued gubernatorial decree
\nNo.17\/2005 as a directive for the later presidential decree.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso's decree set councillors' monthly housing allowance
\nwas at Rp 20 million for leaders and Rp 15 million for members.<\/p>\n
If they sit on the budgetary committee, become a commission
\nmember, are elected a member of council's ethics committee or if
\nthey make official visits to constituents, they receive a monthly
\nstipends ranging from Rp 130,000 to Rp 326,250 for their work
\ndeliberating each bylaw.<\/p>\n
The decree also allocates funds for overseas and national
\ntrips for all councillors. Each councillor (leader or member)
\nreceives a Rp 250,000 per day allowance during official out-of-
\ntown trips.<\/p>\n
For official visits inside Jakarta, councillors receive local
\ntransportation fees per visit -- Rp 1 million for council
\nspeaker, Rp 900,000 for deputies and Rp 750,000 for members.<\/p>\n
They are also entitled to Rp 1.5 million payouts for the
\nSpeaker, Rp 1.4 million for deputies and Rp 1.25 for members to
\nfund official activities during the visit.<\/p>",
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