Are DPRD members already immune to money?

Hopefully, it is not merely a fleeting enthusiasm but a consistent attitude. A number of the City Legislative Council (DPRD) members, who concurrently become the Kemayoran Special Committee members, have reportedly been given a bundle amounting to Rp20 million by PT Jakarta International Trade Fair (JITF) so that the case involving PT JITF will not be further investigated.

According to Ugiek Soegihardjo, concurrently a member of Commission B on Economics, on Wednesday (May 1) he was given a bundle worth Rp 20 million in Rp 50,000 denominations by the City Council secretary Murdiman, to whom the money had allegedly been entrusted to by PT JITF last March. It is unclear whether or not the other 26 members of the Kemayoran Special Committee, which is established by the City Council to investigate irregularities in the city administration's asset transfer at former the Kemayoran airport, also received the same bundle.

The President Director of PT JITF Edward Soerjadjaja himself has denied the money issue as it is not in line with the policy of the company, some 70 percent of whose capital belongs to the Japanese government.

We are glad to hear that news as it is such an attitude that the City Council members should show. They become the people's representatives and have to consistently defend the people's interests in the widespread meaning.

We also know that what appears now is only the tip of the iceberg as in many cases some Council members very often make use of their position for their own benefits or for the benefit of fellow Council members or their own parties.

-- Warta Kota, Jakarta