West Java council members won't return gifts: Speaker<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Turing a deaf ear to public criticism, the West Java provincial
\nlegislative council announced on Monday it had no plan to return
\ngifts it received from the local administration.<\/p>\n
The speaker of the council, Eka Santosa, said here that the
\ngifts, Rp 250 million in cash given to each councillor to buy
\nplots of land for houses, were not in violation of any laws and
\nthat the councillors deserved the money.<\/p>\n
\"Despite protests from certain groups in society, we won't
\ngive the money back to the provincial administration because we
\nthink there is nothing wrong with disbursing money from the
\nprovincial budget for the presents.<\/p>\n
\"If we returned the money, that would mean we are admitting
\nthere was something wrong in the budget disbursement process. Let
\nthe law investigate and see if anything was wrong with the
\ngifts.\"<\/p>\n
Eka said the budget allocation had been approved by both the
\nadministration and the 100-member legislative council, with the
\nmoney to be disbursed in the three fiscal years from 2001 to
\n2003.<\/p>\n
Giving members of the legislative council gifts is a long-
\nestablished practice, as a show of appreciation from the
\nprovincial administration for the council's work. The last group
\nof councillors, who served from between 1997 and 1999, also
\nreceived similar rewards.<\/p>\n
Several councillors have said the gifts give them the
\nincentive to work even harder.<\/p>\n
\"The full disbursement will comply with all procedures, as it
\nfollows the regulation on routine expenditures. All of the
\nfaction leaders approved the disbursement,\" Eka said.<\/p>\n
He admitted that the provincial budget did not specifically
\nallocate money to help councillors buy land.<\/p>\n
\"But it is guaranteed that the funds will not be taken from
\nthe routine expenditures allocated for state institutions, such
\nas the police and the prosecutor's office.<\/p>\n
\"Nor will the money be taken from budget allotted to cover
\ncouncillors' allowances,\" he said.<\/p>\n
All provincial spending related to the duties of the
\ncouncillors requires the approval of the minister of home
\naffairs.<\/p>\n
A councillor in charge of budgetary affairs, Gatot Cahyono,
\nsaid the funds would be taken from miscellaneous expenses.<\/p>\n
But when shown evidence to the contrary, Gatot, who is a
\nmember of the team that arranged for the disbursement of the
\ngifts, said the provincial administration could use money
\nallocated for state institutions.<\/p>\n
Due to the confusion, Eka said the council would summon
\nGovernor R. Nuriana to clarify the matter.<\/p>\n
The council will also question the governor over how word of
\nthe gifts leaked to the media, Eka added.<\/p>",
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