Agency questioned about money usage
Agency questioned about money usage
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Council has accused the City Transportation Agency of
intending to wrongfully use Rp 8.4 billion earmarked for the
purchase of boats for the Seribu islands to finance the
renovation of seaports in the islands.
A member of City Council Commission D for development affairs,
Amarullah Asbach, said that projects mentioned in the city budget
could not be changed without consultation with the City Council
as they were jointly decided by the executive and the council.
"If money is allocated for the procurement of boats, it cannot
be used for developing seaports. That could be construed as fund
manipulation," Amarullah said at a hearing with officials of the
City Transportation Agency on Monday.
Amarullah was commenting on the project report of the City
Transportation Agency presented during the hearing.
In the city budget, the Rp 8.4 billion was allocated for
purchasing vessels for sea transportation in Seribu islands
regency. But in the progress report, the money was used for
upgrading seaports on Kelapa and Lancang islands.
Amarullah said the City Council would question the use of the
money in the annual progress reports of the city budget
implementation.
"The City Council may annul any agency's projects not
mentioned in the city budget," he added.
The 2002 city budget allocates Rp 106.904 billion to the City
Transportation Agency. The busway project will take up Rp 51.82
billion of the allocation.
Responding to Amarullah's complaint, the head of the city
transportation agency, Rustam Effendi, said a mistake had been
made in the report presented to the City Council on Monday.
"My staff made a mistake. The truth is that the money will
still be used for purchasing boats," he said
Amarullah, however, questioned Rustam's statement, saying an
official could not claim it was a mistake when the report had
already been presented to the City Council.
Other issues raised by legislators during the hearing included
the lack of process in the construction of the busway, which is
scheduled to be operational in October, and the controversial
development of the Pulo Gebang bus terminal in East Jakarta.