Another council farce

Much good wisdom has been voiced here in the capital city but nothing is wiser than the counsel advising Jakartans not to expect any social sensitivity from members of City Council, because they are lacking in it, pathologically. On the other hand, their sense of indifference toward public suffering -- which includes those displaced by the recent city-led forced evictions -- has a habit of raising its ugly head from time to time.

City Council members are often called "honorable councillors" -- although more often than not they like to get involved in not- so-honorable deeds. Last year, for example, they went on a series of overseas trips, which they called "comparative studies", that had nothing to do with the interests of the people they were supposed to represent.

But this statement is actually not the whole truth, because the representatives were selected by their respective political parties, which won seats in the general election, instead of being directly voted in by the electorate. Anyway, that is the political system here.

Last year's foreign trips provoked angry reactions from many parties, including the City and Urban Society Division of the Legal Aid Institute, and Indonesian Corruption Watch. They protested against what they called the councillors' thoughtlessness and arrogance. The groups said that the money wasted on overseas travel could have been much better spent on public welfare.

Although the criticism was rejected by some honorable councillors, one thing was undeniable: The people who were representing one of the poorest countries in the world were accommodated in five-star hotels and visited China, where they enjoyed Peking duck and a lavish acrobatic show. These were obviously important activities for them.

Last week, a piece of news told us that some 85 old councillors, who commonly share an outdated mentality, would begin a two-day meeting on Wednesday with members of the city executive at the luxurious Wisma Jayaraya complex in Puncak, some 60 kilometers south of here, to discuss the draft 2002 city budget, which has been proposed to balance at Rp 8.9 trillion.

To hold such a serious meeting the honorable councillors seem badly in need of a cozy atmosphere, undisturbed by routine drills. But the question is why they need such an expensive venue, which is located in the cool and breezy luxury weekend resort? The decision might be meant to tell the public that they are of a different class.

But, alas, it is purely to laugh at the impoverished citizens, notably those displaced by the recent city-led forced evictions. If that is not the case, why don't the honorable councillors hold their meeting at the city-owned three-star Hotel Cempaka in Central Jakarta, which would be less costly and more practical?

Perhaps, because last year they also held the same meeting at the same resort, which ended without any serious disturbances, despite public protests? There were, in fact, protests by many groups of people if they had been bothered to switch on their ears and been ready to listen. But the city authorities and those who call themselves public representatives with the same rotten mentality tend to turn a deaf ear. To quote an Arabic proverb, the caravan kept passing while the dogs barked.

They also seem to have a talent of reviving the memories of the bad old days when dictator Soeharto did not care to teach his supporters to look after the poorest sector of society. And the councillors have so far no discernible, definable program of reform. The term reformasi is no more than a "hurrah word", endlessly repeated but denoting little of substance. The reason behind this seems to be the lack of patriotism. They are politicians with a taste for outrageous egotism. They are more political buffoons than genuine public representatives. By going abroad and discussing budget proposals at a weekend resort, the reformists who share the old mentality have tried to turn their fantasies into reality.

If nobody stops this habit soon, we are afraid that councillors will soon ask for a five-star hotel in Puncak full of Gothic restaurants, antique beds, gold-plated showers and taps, with the justification that it is simply a way of breaking the monotony at home.