Lampung's draft budget under fire<\/p>\n
Oyos Saroso HN, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung<\/p>\n
Activists and the Lampung provincial legislative council clashed
\non Wednesday after the activists said the province's 2002 draft
\nbudget allocated more for the bureaucracy that it did for the
\npoor.<\/p>\n
The discussion turned into serious bickering when a number of
\nactivists lambasted the council, accusing a number of legislators
\nof colluding with Governor Oemarsono to give a bigger portion of
\nthe budget to the bureaucracy and local officials.<\/p>\n
Legislative council deputy chairman Mochtar Hasan stormed out
\nof the meeting after 300 students and activists representing 36
\nnon-governmental organizations (NGOs) condemned both the
\nprovincial administration and the legislative council.<\/p>\n
The students and activists were received by a number of
\nlegislators, including Mochtar Hasan, after they staged a
\ndemonstration at the legislative compound, demanding major
\nchanges to the draft budget.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators threatened to occupy the legislative
\nbuilding unless their demands were met.<\/p>\n
\"Both the local administration and the legislative council
\nhave no sense of crisis. The governor has proposed to allocate 70
\npercent of more than Rp 450 billion of the draft budget to
\nfinance the bureaucracy and local officials while some of the
\npeople have turned to tiwul (a cassava-based food) instead of
\nrice because of the soaring prices of basic commodities,\" Imam, a
\nstudent demonstrator, said.<\/p>\n
Rice prices have risen to Rp 3,700 per kilogram from Rp 1,500.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Julden Erwin, spokesman for the NGOs, questioned the
\nprovincial administration's development policy as it had only
\nallocated 30 percent of the budget to development programs.<\/p>\n
Erwin also criticized the legislators' high take-home pay,
\nsaying it was not feasible to receive such high amounts when the
\nlegislature did not function optimally.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, a legislator's gross salary is only Rp 4 million
\nper month but, with numerous allowances, he or she will receive a
\ntotal of Rp 24 million per month,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Idhan Djanuawardana, coordinator of the Center for Development
\nStudies, called on the legislature to cut its budget, allowances
\nand facilities provided for the governor.<\/p>\n
\"The governor has received too many allowances and facilities
\nthat reflects a life-style which is too far above local people's
\nliving conditions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators said they would keep returning to the
\nlegislature compound until the legislative council made changes
\nto the budget.<\/p>\n
Abdul Hakim, Muzakir Noor, both of the Crescent Star Party
\nfaction, and Raden Muhammad Ismail of the Indonesian democratic
\nParty of Struggle pledged to listen to the demonstrators' demands
\nduring the deliberation of the draft budget.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lampungs-draft-budget-under-fire-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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