DPRD Jakarta: empowered but not all that wiser<\/p>\n
T. Sima Gunawan
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
One is never too old to study. City councillors know the axiom
\nwell and took a shot at implementing it -- without worrying about
\nthe cost.<\/p>\n
In the middle of this year, they made a series of trips
\noverseas for what they claimed were comparative studies. Some
\ntook a one-week tour to Los Angeles to study entertainment and
\nadvertisement taxes. Some traveled to Mexico to learn about
\nmuseum management, education and social welfare. There were also
\nothers who went to Paris to see how the city handled street
\nvendors. To study disaster prevention and riots, they chose Japan
\nand China.<\/p>\n
While for garbage management, some councillors chose Buenos
\nAires, Argentina, and Vancouver, Canada.<\/p>\n
The 2001 city budget allocated Rp 11.95 billion (about US$1.2
\nmillion) to cover the official trips of the 85 city councillors.
\nAs much as Rp 7 billion had already been spent for the foreign
\ntrips before the councillors were forced to halt them following
\nmounting public criticism.<\/p>\n
The trips amounted to nothing but a waste of money. The fund
\nwould have been better spent on the people's welfare as many were
\nstill struggling to survive the prolonged crisis that hit the
\ncountry in 1997. It could have been used to subsidize public bus
\noperators who could not afford the spare parts to maintain their
\nvehicles.<\/p>\n
Jakarta has more than 24,000 buses including those owned by
\nprivate firms but since the economic crisis only 65 percent of
\nthem are still in operation.<\/p>\n
Or, the fund could have been used to hire full-time teachers
\nand to give them better payment instead of giving them just Rp
\n90,000 monthly each as part-time teachers. There are around 6,000
\ncasual teachers and approximately 27,000 teachers employed as
\ncivil servants. Due to limited budget, the city was only able to
\nrecruit an additional 110 full-time teachers for this year.<\/p>\n
A councillor said that conducting comparative studies abroad
\nwas useful, particularly as they gained knowledge, which enabled
\nthem "to argue with the executive in a discussion about certain
\nsubjects."<\/p>\n
So far, there has been no official explanation or report on
\nthe results of the trips. They even seemed embarrassed to talk
\nwith the media about what they had learned during the tours.<\/p>\n
None of them offered useful ideas to solve the various
\nproblems facing the people and the city administration. With no
\ncritical stance, they usually just accepted policies of Governor
\nSutiyoso and other officials even if they were not in favor of
\nthe people.<\/p>\n
One obvious case was the city plan to allocate Rp 3.2 billion
\na year for four gorillas which would be imported from Britain for
\nthe city-owned Ragunan Zoo. The City Council gave their approval,
\nbut when it was criticized extensively in the mass media, some
\ncouncillors claimed they actually did not agree. They said they
\nwere just forced to approve the plan, which showed how
\nsubservient they are to the city administration.<\/p>\n
The councillors did not utter a word when thousands of people
\nwho live in slums lost their homes due to forced eviction by
\ncity public order officers. They also said nothing about the
\nstreet vendors, becak (pedicab) drivers and those in the informal
\nemployment sector who became the target of raids by the city
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
When Sutiyoso panicked over the closure of the Bantar Gebang
\ngarbage dump by the Bekasi administration, the councillors,
\nincluding those who had taken comparative studies on waste
\nmanagement abroad, did not provide any useful solutions,
\napparently because they failed to understand the real problem.<\/p>\n
The councillors seemed to realize their limited knowledge. So,
\nsome took undergraduate studies in political science at 17
\nAgustus University, or the masters program in management at the
\nJagakarsa Institute of Economics.<\/p>\n
Each of the councillors is allocated Rp 10 million (US$909) a
\nyear from the city budget for educational purposes.<\/p>\n
Those who did not enter degree programs were allowed to use
\nthe money for taking courses, such as English language courses.<\/p>\n
But the spending of tax-payers money to finance their
\neducation had enraged some activists from the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle, who once staged a protest,
\nunfurling several posters stating: "Stupid councillors should
\nresign", "People suffer because their councillors are stupid".<\/p>\n
And, as if in response to the criticism, in an effort to
\nenhance their cerebral functions, a total of 60 councillors took
\na short course in early November called "Brainwave Management
\nTraining" to improve their "brain power".<\/p>\n
Council chairman Edy Waluyo said the councillors, taking the
\ntraining, were expected to improve their emotional intelligence
\nand adopt productive and efficient habits.<\/p>\n
In many ways, showing a lack of mature emotional intelligence,
\nthe councillors had acted like spoilt children.<\/p>\n
They complained that the council building, located on Jl.
\nKebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, was too small and no longer
\nappropriate for their activities.<\/p>\n
The councillors demanded a new, spacious building with a
\nhealth center complete with a sauna similar to the one in the
\ncity administration building.<\/p>\n
The administration finally agreed to expand the current
\nbuilding at a cost of Rp 30.56 billion.<\/p>\n
Long before that, 55 councillors asked for a new sedan even
\nthough they had already received Rp 75 million as a
\ntransportation allowance upon their installment as a councillor.
\nThe other 30 councillors had already received new cars.<\/p>\n
They bought 55 Hyunday Accent sedans for Rp 5.8 billion, taken
\nfrom the city budget reserve funds, which resulted in a delay in
\nthe purchase of several garbage trucks.<\/p>\n
Worse still, several city officials were then questioned in
\nconnection with a reported markup in the purchase of the sedans,
\nwhich were exempt of taxes.<\/p>\n
Another thing the councillors asked for was life insurance.
\nThey asked the city to pay a Rp 4.25 billion life insurance
\npremium. When the plan was rejected by the city administration,
\ncouncillor Azis Boeang was upset as he felt that the
\nadministration had paid more attention to the four gorillas -- to
\nbe imported from Britain for the Ragunan Zoo -- than to the
\ncouncillors.<\/p>\n
The councillors actually had received more than enough. Their
\nmonthly salary is Rp 7 million each, and they are entitled to
\nseveral allowances, which all together total about Rp 70 billion.
\nThe monthly income of each councillor could reach between Rp 60
\nmillion and Rp 80 million.<\/p>\n
One of their main duties is the drafting of bylaws. They were
\nexpected to pass at least 15 bylaws this year, but only eight
\nbylaws had been completed, all of which were drafted by the city
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
It seems that most of them did not have any knowledge of
\nbylaws that had been passed by their predecessors. When the media
\nreported the case of a military officer and his wife, a
\npolicewoman, who tortured their domestic helpers, and asked some
\ncouncillors about legal protection for housemaids, most of them
\njust shrugged off the question. They were unaware of a bylaw on
\ndomestic helpers that was enacted into law in 1993.<\/p>",
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