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