Attorney General's Office takes heat for luxury cars
Attorney General's Office takes heat for luxury cars
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib is in the hot
seat for providing luxury cars for his staff despite the
country's desperate financial straits.
Critics said the fund allocation, reaching billions of rupiah,
would be better used to improve the professionalism of the
Attorney General's Office and better the welfare of staff
members.
"The government has no sense of crisis and solidarity with the
suffering of its people," lawyer Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara,
the chairman of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy,
told The Jakarta Post.
He said the country needed leaders who could live modestly to
empathize with the plight of those who had lost their jobs or
were finding it difficult to feed their children.
Ghalib has provided his deputies with new German-made 318i
BMWs, which carry an off-the-road price of Rp 300 million each.
The second level of officials -- directors and bureau chiefs
-- have received new Toyota Kijang vans.
The officials have been using the vehicles in the past few
weeks.
Ghalib said the budget for the cars was derived from
operational funds from the Ministry of Finance.
"I ask for your understanding, (the funds) are not just any
kind of money," Andi was quoted by Suara Pembaruan afternoon
daily as saying.
"We're not even entitled to a motorcycle," a clerk at his
office complained.
The office is already in the public spotlight because it is
leading an investigation into the allegedly ill-gotten wealth of
former president Soeharto.
Ghalib argued it had been a long time since the office had
provided deputies with official cars for their daily duties.
Separately, Purwata Gandasubrata, former chief of the Supreme
Court, told the Post that the type of official cars designated to
staff members depended on the office's budget allocation.
Each brand allocated to officials was determined by staff
members' position, as regulated in a government decree, he added.
The Development Finance Comptroller would investigate a
vehicle provision if, for example, a director received a Volvo.
The vehicle, which costs about Rp 700 million, is used by
ministers.
Legislators also regretted the decision.
On Sunday,Kompas daily quoted legislator Abu Hasan Sazili
Marjani as saying the perception remained that high-level
officials should drive luxury vehicles when more economical
vehicles were appropriate.
Aisyah Amini, who heads the House commission for government
affairs, acknowledged public officials worked hard, but added:
"Is it (providing luxury cars) a priority?"
Former prosecutor Andi Hamzah was quoted as saying the
allocation of BMWs was an unprecedented perk for deputy
attorneys. (01)