Councillors' firm stance weakened in Ancol<\/p>\n
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Governor Sutiyoso's 2001 budget speech appears likely to be
\naccepted, with city councillors' apparently backing away from
\ntheir original staunch criticism during the first day of a two-
\nday meeting at the Hotel Horison in Ancol, North Jakarta, on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
The chairwoman of the City Council's Commission E for social
\nwelfare affairs, Wasilah Sutrisno, said the meeting was aimed at
\nclearing up the controversies surrounding the budget speech,
\nwhich did not receive a warm welcome from councillors when
\ndelivered by the governor.<\/p>\n
Among the controversies is the alleged misappropriation of the
\ncity budget.<\/p>\n
\"The issues are being discussed here. The earlier sharp
\ncriticisms of the administration have been toned down,\" said
\nWasilah of the National Mandate Party (PAN), without going into
\ndetail about all of the controversial issues surrounding the
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
Whatever the issues, they were not resolved during last week's
\ntwo-day meeting at the city-owned resort Wisma Jaya Raya in
\nPuncak, Bogor.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment on criticism that the meetings in Puncak and
\nAncol were nothing but a waste of money, Wasilah said she could
\ndo nothing.<\/p>\n
\"It's a tradition,\" she told reporters during a break in the
\nmeeting.<\/p>\n
Some 47 of the city's 85 councillors and dozens of city
\nofficials took part in Monday's meeting in the hotel's Krakatau
\nmeeting hall.<\/p>\n
Several rooms, priced between Rp 450,000 (US$45) and Rp 1
\nmillion a night, reportedly have been booked for councillors and
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
Those taking part in the meeting were entertained by a live
\nband during their lunch, a diversion that is unavailable to them
\nat the council building on Jl. Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
However, the financial assistant to City Secretary Makmun Amin
\ndenied having booked any rooms at the hotel for councillors and
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
\"Only one room was booked for the people in charge of the
\nmeeting,\" Makmun told reporters.<\/p>\n
Councillor Ahmad Heryawan admitted that some councillors might
\nbe staying at the hotel.<\/p>\n
\"But I will go home and return tomorrow morning. I don't know
\nabout the others,\" Heryawan said.<\/p>\n
It remains unclear who decided on holding the meeting at the
\nhotel, which is partially owned by the city administration.<\/p>\n
A city official claimed the councillors demanded the meeting
\nbe held in the Hotel Horison. But councillors said the meeting
\nwas the initiative of and financed by the City Finance Office.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know who decided on the details of the meeting. But
\nthe funds for the meeting were taken from the city budget,\"
\nMakmun Amin said, without specifying how much the meeting was
\ncosting.<\/p>\n
Last week, the city's 85 councillors and hundreds of city
\nofficials took part in the Puncak meeting, which reportedly cost
\nRp 1.5 billion.<\/p>\n
The 2002 city budget allocated Rp 17.8 billion for City
\nCouncil meetings related to the governor's budget speech and
\naccountability speech.<\/p>\n
The councillors will decide whether to reject or to accept the
\nbudget speech during a plenary session on April 26.<\/p>\n
If his speech is rejected, Sutiyoso's opportunity to be
\nreelected in October for a second five-year term would vanish.<\/p>",
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