Aceh legislators complain about Rp 25m bonus

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Each member of the Banda Aceh legislative council has reportedly received Rp 25 million in an annual bonus for Idul Fitri, but some of them have questioned it because it was not in accordance with the legislature's budget regulations.

"We questioned the status of the funds, which are derived from the routine budget of the Banda Aceh administration," chairman of Banda Aceh Justice Party (PK) Razali S .Ag. said here Thursday.

"Funds which are usually taken from the routine budget are earmarked to handle natural disasters like fires, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes and earthquakes and they cannot be given to councillors as an annual bonus," he said.

Two local legislators from the Justice Party, Khairul Amal and Razali S.Ag, have also received the annual bonus, but later donated the money to the "needy" because they claimed that they had no right to receive the money, according to Razali. --Antara