Questionable funds for councillors 'not a gift'<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Responding to the widespread criticism of the Rp 25 billion given
\nto members of the West Java legislature, Governor R. Nuriana said
\nthe money was not a gift but was released at the request of the
\nlegislative council.<\/p>\n
News of the payment to the council sparked protests by
\nnumerous student organizations and non-governmental
\norganizations, which have demanded the legislative council return
\nthe money to the provincial administration because the funds were
\ntaken from the 2002 provincial budget.<\/p>\n
There have been allegations that the governor released the
\nfunds to ensure the legislative council's acceptance of his
\naccountability speech.<\/p>\n
\"It is up to the councillors if they want to return the funds,
\nbecause it was the legislative council that took the initiative
\nto ask for the money,\" the governor said here over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He added that he had yet to receive a statement or report from
\nthe council on any plan to return the money.<\/p>\n
A number of councillors, each of whom received Rp 250 million,
\nhave expressed their willingness to return the money, but so far
\nhave failed to do so, apparently because they have already spent
\nthe money to purchase land.<\/p>\n
Eka Santosa, the chairman of the legislative council, said
\nlast week the councillors would return the money in order to
\nrestore the tarnished image of the legislative council.<\/p>\n
\"It is their business. Just ask them when and where they will
\nreturn the funds they asked for during a plenary session early
\nthis month,\" Nuriana reiterated.<\/p>\n
The secretary of the West Java administration, Danny Setiawan,
\nsaid he hoped the councillors could return the money immediately
\nso he could revise the provincial budget.<\/p>\n
Setia Untung Arimuladi, the spokesman for the West Java
\nAttorney General's Office, said his office had completed a
\npreliminary investigation of the disbursement of the funds.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 22\/1999, councillors are prohibited from
\naccepting bribes or gifts that could influence the decisions of
\nthe legislature.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, hundreds of activists from five non-governmental,
\nstudent and youth organizations from across the province staged a
\nprotest against the councillors failure to return the money.<\/p>\n
They questioned the councillors' commitment to returning the
\nmoney, noting that they have not even met with the governor to
\ndiscuss the matter.<\/p>\n
\"They are even busy discussing how to use Rp 100 billion of
\nsupplementary funds to repair damaged roads.\"<\/p>\n
Some 150 demonstrators, who said they were from the White and
\nRed Brigade, which is part of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan), blocked off the governor's office and
\ndemanded Nuriana step down because of the scandal.<\/p>",
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