Another council farce

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councillors, who commonly share an outdated mentality, would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.