Sutiyoso's European tour<\/p>\n
It was on Monday, Oct. 22, that Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso left
\nthe country for a 10-day visit to Madrid, Athens and Amsterdam,
\naccompanied by his wife, Rini, and two senior city officials. Not
\nsurprisingly, under the circumstances, the trip drew immediate
\ncriticism not only from members of the City Council, but from the
\npublic as well.<\/p>\n
\"I think the visit is not an important one,\" councillor
\nSyarifien Maloko, of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) commented. \"It
\nshould have been postponed due to the situation here.\" In
\nSyarifien's view the sister city cooperation program was really
\nnot that crucial, especially given the current situation in the
\ncountry and in the city.<\/p>\n
Besides, he said, by going on a foreign tour the governor was
\ndisregarding his own instruction, issued only last week, which
\nbans city officials from leaving the city due to the rising anti-
\nU.S. sentiment in Jakarta. \"City officials are banned from
\nleaving the city and the governor is making a trip overseas. He
\nhas no sense of crisis.\"<\/p>\n
Syarifien's comments were concurred by councillor Binsar
\nTambunan, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan), who said that by going overseas, Sutiyoso was also
\nignoring a letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs asking that
\nthe governor limit his trip to one week, instead of 10 days.<\/p>\n
City spokesman Muhayat, told reporters the visit aims to
\nstrengthen cooperation between Jakarta and the three European
\ncities. It was a long-standing invitation that had to be delayed
\nand could only be undertaken now, because of the governor's tight
\nworking schedule, he explained. And why can't a governor of
\nJakarta go on a foreign tour while other officials, even city
\ncouncillors for that matter, have gone on state-funded overseas
\ntrips?<\/p>\n
With all due respect for the governor and his subordinates,
\nSyarifien and Binsar are right. Governor Sutiyoso, of course, is
\nalways free to go on foreign tours -- provided, however,
\nconditions permit and the means are there. At present it is
\ndifficult to say that conditions are ideal. The anti-American
\nprotests and threats to conduct sweeping operations appear to
\nhave let up for now, but there is no guarantee that they will not
\nreturn.<\/p>\n
The overall public security situation remains one of great
\nconcern for the average Jakarta resident, with the police failing
\nto produce results on their promise to stamp out crime or at
\nleast to reduce it to a minimum. The rainy season is approaching
\nand nothing seems to have been done to anticipate the danger of
\nflooding, which means that Jakartans are likely to see more of
\nthe kind of chaos and traffic snarls that occurred recently. On a
\ndifferent plane, the city administration together with the city
\ncouncil must work hard to finalize the city budget by the start
\nof December. In short, there is no shortage of problems and
\nheadaches for anyone who is concerned about security and order in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
The official city budget allocates Rp 175 million
\n(approximately US$17,500) for the governor's domestic and foreign
\ntrips this year. Admittedly, with a Singapore Airlines ticket,
\none way business class, from Jakarta to Madrid costing $2,612 and
\na one-way first class ticket $3,842 that may not be such a huge
\namount, even when one considers the fact that Sutiyoso visited
\nCanada and South Korea in April, accompanied by his wife, two
\ncity officials and a troupe of Betawi local dancers. City
\nspokesman Muhayat acknowledged it would not be enough to cover
\nthe governor's travel expenses this year. The interesting
\nquestion, of course, is how he will make up the balance.<\/p>\n
That, however, goes beyond the scope of this column. What
\nmatters for the present is the lack of a sense of urgency. This
\nis, or should be, one of Indonesia's great concerns because it
\nseems to prevail (almost) throughout our whole administration. As
\nfor Jakarta, let us just remember that it is not only the capital
\ncity, but also the main gateway to the country. President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri has expressed her concern over this
\ncountry's image abroad. It is no exaggeration to say that Jakarta
\neither makes or breaks that image.<\/p>",
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