Authorities told spend prudently

JAKARTA (JP): Councillors urged the city administration on Tuesday to spend prudently in the 2001 fiscal year over a prediction of an increase in the city budget.

The councillors also asked the city administration to pay more attention to poor people, citing that a social gap between the poor and the rich would only provoke unrest.

Chairman of the council's finance commission Amarullah Asbah and Deputy Council Speaker Muhammad Suwardi separately said the city administration would receive more funds in the next fiscal year with the increase in vehicular taxes which might increase the city's revenue by Rp 1.5 trillion (US$163 million).

"The extra funds should be spent wisely. The city administration should use the money to enhance security here, since tax payers want safety," Amarullah, a Golkar Party councillor, said.

He was commenting on a recent statement by the city administration that it predicted revenues of up to Rp 7 trillion, mostly from tax and public contributions for the 2001 fiscal year. (asa)