Activists revive bid to slow CGI meeting

Activists revive bid to slow CGI meeting

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
renewed calls on Thursday for the country's main aid donors,
grouped under the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), to delay
their annual meeting scheduled for July 27 and July 28 in Paris.

The activists said that, given its transitional nature, the
current administration lacked legitimacy to negotiate with CGI on
the new loan commitments from the donors.

They said the meeting should be delayed until a new government
was formed based on the results of the recent general election.

"The current administration is illegitimate. The meeting
should be delayed until a new government is formed. We hope the
new government is trustworthy enough," Wardah Hafidz, coordinator
of the Urban Poor Consortium, said in a meeting between the NGOs
and the country's five largest parties, organized by Professional
Solidarity for Reform (SpuR).

The chairperson of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian
Development (INFID), Zumrotin K Susilo, also lambasted the World
Bank, which chairs the grouping, and the Indonesian government
for lacking seriousness in dealing with misuse of the
international aid.

"We are opposed to the meeting," Zumrotin said.

One activist proposed a large-scale demonstration to pressure
the donors to delay the meeting.

World Bank managing director Sven Sandstrom earlier said that
the meeting would go ahead as scheduled despite the calls for a
delay from the NGOs.

The deputy for international cooperation at the National
Development Planning Board (Bappenas), Budhi Tjahjati, said last
month that based on initial talks with the donors, Indonesia
might receive US$4.72 billion in loan commitments at the CGI
meeting, as against $8 billion in aid pledges received by the
government in 1998.

Secretary-general of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Faisal
Basrie said CGI had decided to hold the meeting and no pressure
from the activists would be able to force the donors to delay the
meeting.

"Thus, NGOs should prepare an alternative scenario in case the
meeting goes ahead," Faisal said.

"Like it or not, the current administration is legitimate,"
Faisal said.

Faisal said Sandstrom had told him in a meeting that the CGI
meeting would focus on evaluating the use of the loans received
by the government in the previous fiscal year and the remaining
loan commitments yet to be disbursed.

Faisal quoted Sandstrom as saying that CGI would also pledge
new loan commitments for the current fiscal year during the
meeting, but that the details of the projects to be funded by the
new loans would be discussed in another meeting with the new
government.

"The meeting needs to reveal new loan commitments so that the
donor countries could incorporate the commitments in their
respective budgets. Otherwise, the new government shall face
difficulties in receiving funds for their new projects," Faisal
said.

Faisal said the country still needed loans from CGI to finance
the developmental projects but the government should gradually
cut the size of the loans to limit the country's debt burden.
(jsk)