Legislators face trip markup case<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
More irregularities have been unveiled in the use of state money
\nby members of the House of Representatives Commission III for
\nlegal and human rights during their recent working visit to Bali.<\/p>\n
The House secretariat general confirmed on Thursday that it
\nhad disbursed payment for a 10-day visit for the legislators, but
\nwas never notified that the visit had been shortened.<\/p>\n
\"We disbursed the amount of money according to the request by
\nthe commission, which was for 10 days. If the visit had been cut
\nback, we should have been notified because we would've changed
\nthe receipts,\" said deputy secretary general I Gusti Ayu Darsini.<\/p>\n
The issue surfaced when legislator Djoko Edhi Soetjipto
\nAbdurrahman, of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said recently
\nhe was to sign a receipt for expenses money covering a 10-day
\nvisit, while he had known the trip was just four days. He refused
\nthe money and did not go.<\/p>\n
Fourteen legislators, led by commission deputy chairman Akil
\nMochtar from the Golkar Party went on the working visit from July
\n10 to July 13. Each reportedly received Rp 13 million (US$1,333).<\/p>\n
A copy of Akil's receipt also shows a payment for 10 days.<\/p>\n
Akil said that after proposing to the House secretariat,
\nanother internal meeting then decided to shorten the period to
\nfour days and to require the legislators taking part in the visit
\nto return the remainder of the money.<\/p>\n
Akil said that Djoko did not attend the meeting. However,
\nDjoko said he was never notified about the meeting nor its
\nresults.<\/p>\n
However, head of the House secretariat's travel division
\nRiyanto said the legislators had not returned the remainder of
\nthe money two weeks after the visit ended.<\/p>\n
\"Reports of the visit and the return of any remainder of money
\nmust be submitted to us at maximum 14 days after the last day of
\nthe visit,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another irregularity was discovered when legislator Almuzammil
\nYusuf from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), who joined the
\nvisit, showed his receipt stating payment only for three days
\ntotaling Rp 6.074 million.<\/p>\n
\"I was told by a commission employee that the visit would be
\nthree days, so I told her to write for me a receipt for three
\ndays. It turned out that we went a day earlier, so I told her to
\nchange the receipt to four days,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muzammil said he was also never informed about any meeting to
\ncut the time of the trip.<\/p>\n
The dates stated in Djoko's and Akil's receipts said the visit
\ntook place from July 19 to July 28, while it actually occurred a
\nweek earlier.<\/p>\n
\"It's odd because we normally disburse the money one or two
\ndays before departure. So I don't know where they got the money
\nfrom. I'll have to ask the finance division and the commission
\nsecretariat,\" said Darsini, who signed all the receipts.<\/p>\n
The commission secretariat arranges the payments for working
\nvisits of legislators.<\/p>\n
Muzammil said the House lacked transparency in disbursing
\npublic money, with legislators not required to report itemized
\nexpenses for the visits they make.<\/p>\n
Akil was unable to be reached for further comment on Thursday.
\nDanis M and Joko Susanto, two staffers at the Commission III
\nsecretariat who also joined the visit were also unavailable.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legislators-face-trip-markup-case-1447893297",
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