BMWs for Attorney General's Office

BMWs for Attorney General's Office

I was shocked to read in The Jakarta Post that the deputies
of the attorney general have been provided with BMW sedans as
their official cars. The budget for these cars was derived from
operational funds from the Ministry of Finance. This means that
the source of the fund was tax payers.

As an Indonesian tax payer, even though I consider myself a
very minor one, I felt I had been robbed by the government if tax
revenue has just been used to buy luxury cars for government
officials. We understand that they need a car for their day-to-
day operations but of course not a luxury car. We still have a
lot of things that need the government's support such as
education for the children of poor people, and a social safety
net program.

If I recall correctly, a few months ago the government also
provided the commanders of KODIM and KOREM with luxury Cherokee
Jeeps as their operational cars.

I think the decision as to what kind of car meets the
requirements of departments is not solely made by the department
itself but should also involve the Ministry of Finance and the
National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). Therefore I was
thinking that the government lacks a sense of crisis. I know that
the amount required to buy a car is very small compared to the
government offshore loan of US$60 billion and also peanuts if we
compare this with the plan of the government to help the
restructuring of the banking business with Rp 140 trillion.

But we have to admit that most of the Indonesian people are
now suffering because of multiple crises in Indonesia. I would
like to appeal to the authorities to spend tax payers' money
wisely so as not to hurt the people's feelings.

M. SULHAN ASKANDAR

Jakarta