Bigger Jakarta budget, lower performance

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, Jakarta Citizens' Forum (FAKTA), Jakarta Social Institute (ISJ)

At the beginning of 2002 the Jakarta administration and legislative council again demonstrated their corrupt credentials, ignoring the interests of Jakarta citizens in the process. Instead of improving their services to Jakarta, these elitist institutions have wasted and abused citizens' funds in the Jakarta regional budget.

In the formulation of last year's budget, we criticized the Jakarta elite for not having a pro-citizen or humane vision, and for their perfunctory performance.

Addressing citizens' interests must become the key performance indicator as the regional budget is financed through community funds in the form of taxes and other kinds of contributions. Yet last year's budget allocated only 30 percent of funds to the citizens and 70 percent to the administration and council.

A close look at the draft of the 2002 budget shows that the vision of improving local people's welfare is rhetoric. The goals of the budget policy contrast with the contents of the budget.

The objectives for this year's budget include the improvement of public welfare through the provision of basic necessities, health services and better quality education. Another objective is the creation of a professional, highly dedicated and untarnished administration that is free from corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Those eloquent sentences were also included in the 2001 budget, which failed to live up to their lofty sentiment. Scores of people were evicted in 2001. Sidewalk vendors and pedicab drivers lost their livelihood. Children dropped out of school because their parents could not afford to pay the tuition fees after losing their jobs.

Once again the budget violates the principle of humanity. The 2002 budget allocates, again, a big wardrobe for the Governor -- Rp 65 million per year or Rp 5.4 million a month. How many cupboards are needed to store the Governor's wardrobe over four years?

Funding of Rp 29.99 billion has been allocated for official residences including that of the governor and mayors; Rp 34.3 billion for the maintenance of office equipment; and Rp 4.4 billion for feeding animals in Ragunan Zoo.

The allocation for infants' and pregnant mothers' nutrition is only Rp 3.1 billion and for the burial of poor patients, Rp 330 million. This comparison really has us scratching our heads.

There is an allocation of Rp 63.5 billion for security and public order in 2002, a sharp decrease from around Rp 124 billion in 2001. These funds are provided for the maintenance of public order, especially for measures against poor Jakarta residents. Last year this allocation was only used to evict the pedicab drivers, sidewalk vendors and for resettlements of the poor.

After every eviction exercise, the administration always claims that the evicted have been compensated. But the money has reportedly been used to purchase tear gas guns used in evictions. The allocation for this sector in 2002 indicates that the administration will continue to use the funds for evictions and other repressive measures against civilians.

Meanwhile a number of cases have yet to be settled, such as the 2000 "Ancolgate" affair, which implicated city officials.

Law enforcement is worsening. Officials live extravagantly with funds obtained from illegal levies. Citizens have to pay more than the official rate for essential services, such as obtaining birth certificates, identification cards and business permits. Even death certificates are subject to the payment of illegal levies if families wish to bury loved ones speedily.

Thus, the funds allocated over the years to the population sector, the legal sector and the apparatus control sector have failed to create a clean administration. The budget has increased every year, but the city's performance has continued to deteriorate.

The 2002 budget has been projected at Rp 8.92 trillion, a roughly 9.5 percent increase on the Rp 8.12 trillion allocated in 2001. The council does not exercise its control function, which seemed to be related to the administration's skills in keeping people silent. The administration has allocated Rp 102.43 billion in the 2002 regional budget for the 85 members, meaning that each member would receive a total of over Rp 1 billion per year or over Rp 100 million per month. Higher performance is unlikely.

The councilors have not proposed significant changes nor have they raised criticisms of the draft budget earlier proposed by Governor Sutiyoso. Thus the budget will mainly feature expenses for the officials instead of clearly displaying the income and expenditure expected for the city.

Weaker control from outside the municipality and the council can also be expected. A representative organization, the Dewan Kelurahan (Dekel) or subdistrict council, was formed in 2001 and has about 2,500 members. Each member represents the neighborhood level (Rukun Warga, RW) and is elected directly by RW residents.

The 2002 regional budget will provide Rp 15.52 billion for an honorary allowance for Dekel members, Rp 1.6 billion for meetings and Rp 640 million for members' transportation allowance. The allocation of such funds and facilities will likely make Dekel members less sensitive to the interests of those who elected them.

It is also feared that the allocation of projects to non governmental organizations and academics will weaken supervision of the municipality. Some journalists have also regarded offices of the Jakarta administration and legislative council as lucrative posts or sources of additional income.

In 2001, the administration offered foreign trips to reporters, a policy that some fear will make journalists reluctant to write about officials' and councilors' misconduct.

So it would be rather difficult to hope for better public welfare. Without being able to rely on their representatives and others who are supposed to speak up for them, Jakarta residents are left to their own devices to rescue their money.