Funding problem still confronts special session<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): With the Special session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly just three weeks away, an unforeseen snag
\nhas cropped up in the form of the government's failure so far to
\ndisburse funding for the crucial event.<\/p>\n
Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said Minister of Finance Rizal
\nRamli had yet to sign a letter agreeing to the disbursement of
\nfunds from the State Budget.<\/p>\n
"The Assembly Secretary-General Umar Basalim reported to me
\nthat the money for the special session has not yet been disbursed
\nbecause the Minister of Finance had not yet given his approval,"
\nAmien told journalists on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
But Amien insisted that this would not deter Assembly members
\nfrom convening on Aug. 1, as they would find alternative ways of
\ncovering or cutting down on the costs.<\/p>\n
He said he might ask each faction in the Assembly to chip in
\nmoney to finance their own members attendance.<\/p>\n
"The Assembly members could stay in their own homes and not in
\nhotels, they could use their own cars for transportation, and
\neach faction could also pay for the members' meals," he said.<\/p>\n
"I think if we do that it will boost the public's regard for
\nAssembly members," Amien further remarked.<\/p>\n
More than half of the 700 Assembly members already live in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Earlier, chairman of the House of Representative's Commission
\nIX on finance, Benny Pasaribu, played down the potential
\nfinancial problem saying that it was simply an administrative
\nsnag.<\/p>\n
He said that at a meeting with the director general of
\nbudgeting the government had agreed to provide some Rp 20.7
\nbillion (US$1.9million) to fund the session.<\/p>\n
However, the Ministry of Finance's Director General for
\nBudgeting Anshari Ritonga said the Assembly had yet to propose
\nthe budget for the special session, and so the government could
\nnot disburse the funds.<\/p>\n
"We've never received the budget proposal ... nobody has given
\na proposal to me," Ritonga said.<\/p>\n
Separately, the Assembly deputy speaker from the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Soetjipto, said
\nfactions would be ready to help finance the special session if
\nnecessary.<\/p>\n
"If we have to, then what else can we say," he said.<\/p>\n
In other preparations, police revealed on Wednesday that about
\n850 cadets from the National Police Academy (SPN), who have
\nreceived a total of six months of police training, would be among
\nthe 42,000 security personnel deployed in the capital ahead of
\nthe event.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Yacob said on Wednesday
\nthat the police cadets, due to graduate in the next fortnight,
\nwere originally scheduled to be stationed in provincial police
\nheadquarters across the country.<\/p>\n
"However, I've asked for that to be postponed ... since the
\ncapital will be more in need of them. We will need their
\nstrength, skills and power for the Assembly Special Session,"
\nSofjan told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
"I believe this will be better than requesting other
\nprovincial police forces to send me reinforcements to provide
\nsecurity during the special session. The capital will be in safe
\nhands." (bkm\/dja\/ylt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/funding-problem-still-confronts-special-session-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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