Legislators off to study Cairo despite criticism<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Sixteen legislators plan to leave for the Egyptian capital of
\nCairo for a \"comparative study tour\" on how the Egyptian
\nparliament's ways and means committee works, causing critics to
\nclaim that the trip was only meant to exhaust remaining funds in
\nthe foreign trips budget.<\/p>\n
While it's not immediately clear how much money has been
\ndesignated for this specific trip, which will start on Dec. 11,
\nthere remains Rp 10.13 billion (US$1 million), or 67.7 percent of
\nthe total budget, of the 2005 overseas travel budget for
\nlegislators.<\/p>\n
The Cairo trip, which will be carried out by members of the
\nHouse of Representatives ways and means committee, has raised
\nquestions as to whether it was really necessary, since there are
\nyet no clear issues to be addressed, no working programs and no
\ntargets to be accomplished for the trip.<\/p>\n
\"There seems to be no acceptable reasoning for this trip, and
\nthere's also no requirement for legislators to draw up a report
\non what they wish to accomplish, let alone individual reports
\nupon returning home,\" said committee member Suryama Majana
\nSastra, who has pulled out of the trip.<\/p>\n
It has become a common practice for government departments and
\nHouse commissions to request too much funding for their annual
\nexpenditures, just to find that only half of the budget has
\nactually been spent by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Such actions have adversely affected budget allocations for
\nother sectors, such as agriculture and education.<\/p>\n
As the end of the budget year draws near, increasingly more
\nactivities are undertaken in order to fully use up unused funds.<\/p>\n
The budget for foreign trips for House members in 2004, for
\nexample, was only 52.4 percent spent by the end of the year, and
\nit looks likely that this will be repeated this year.<\/p>\n
Yet, the 2006 budget for such purposes had been more than
\ndoubled from Rp 14.96 billion to Rp 31.46 billion.<\/p>\n
\"We factored in price and rate fluctuations, as well as living
\nstandards in the destinations. But the thing is that the budgets
\nare exaggerated estimations. In practice, they 'forget' that the
\nfigures are exaggerated, thus try to spend the entire sum for
\nmade-up purposes,\" said Suryama.<\/p>\n
The new figure also includes Rp 986.82 million for foreign
\ntrips for the House's disciplinary body. The newly established
\nbody did not get any allocations for this purpose in the 2005
\nbudget.<\/p>\n
However, it remains unclear why the body, which deals with
\nresolving disputes or cases involving House members, would need
\nto make foreign trips.<\/p>\n
In the future, Suryama said, budgets should be drawn up based
\non programs and competence, with publicly announced objectives.<\/p>\n
Upon returning from a trip, legislators normally read a report
\nbefore the House plenary session on the results of the trip.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, as many legislators themselves have admitted,
\nthere is never any obligation or effort to follow up reports with
\nconcrete actions, thus most reports end up gathering dust on
\nshelves.<\/p>\n
A number of House members were criticized several months ago
\nover a trip to the Netherlands and France. The members were
\nphotographed carrying bulky shopping bags filled with branded
\nluxury goods in a department store.<\/p>",
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