Budget meeting in Puncak canceled, moved to City Hall
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Ciloto, West Java
Due to public complaints and the urging of the police, a meeting between Jakarta councillors and officials to discuss the 2003 city budget at the Ciloto Indah Permai Hotel in Puncak, Cianjur regency, West Java, was canceled on Tuesday.
The chief of police in Pacet, a district in Puncak, First Insp. Bambang, urged the councillors to cancel the meeting after police received telephone calls from residents complaining about traffic congestion due to the meeting.
"I hope the meeting can be canceled in response to complaints from residents," Bambang, who arrived at the hotel at about 11 a.m., told leaders of the city council.
The decision was taken after a meeting between Bambang and the budget meeting chairman, Chudlary Syafii, who said more than 1,000 people arrived for the meeting on Tuesday.
Chudlary said no more than 300 people, consisting of city councillors, officials and a number of staff members, should actually attend the meeting.
The council leaders, including three deputy chairmen and 11 chairmen of the council's factions, then decided to cancel the meeting and move it to City Hall on Wednesday.
Traffic was backed up from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. because hundreds of cars belonging to businesspeople and city officials were parked along the road in the area around Ciloto.
Several luxury cars, including a black Jaguar, were parked along the road in front of the hotel. Many of the cars belonged to businesspeople who reportedly were in Puncak to approach the councillors and officials about city projects.
Traffic was backed up for at least 10 kilometers along the road from Cipayung to the Ciloto hotel.
Besides the cars, dozens of members of the non-governmental organization Indonesian Consumers Rights Struggle Foundation, who were there to protest the meeting, added to the congestion.
The organization, which has its office in Matraman, East Jakarta, criticized the city council for wasting public money by holding the meeting at a privately owned hotel.
The cancellation of the meeting is believed to have caused at least Rp 75 million (US$8,330) in losses.
"We have to pay the costs for today, although we booked the hotel for two days," council spokesman Rubingan said after the cancellation of the meeting.
Council secretary Moerdiman earlier said the meeting would cost Rp 150 million.
But reliable sources said the council had booked 300 rooms at the hotel for the 85 councillors and city officials, at an average rate of Rp 200,000 per room per night. That would put the cost of the meeting closer to Rp 400 million.
Other city officials and employees also reportedly booked rooms at hotels near the Ciloto hotel to provide support during the meeting.
According to the council's original schedule, the budget meeting was to be held at the city-owned Wisma Jaya Raya Hotel and Resort in Cipayung, Puncak, Bogor regency.
The meeting was moved to the Ciloto hotel because the Wisma Jaya Raya was already booked by paramilitary youth group Pemuda Panca Marga for its national gathering.
A few councillors reportedly suggested the meeting be moved to City Hall, but the majority of the councillors wanted the meeting held in Puncak.
Many observers accuse the councillors of insisting the meeting be held in Puncak in order to avoid any public scrutiny.
It was also expected during the Puncak meeting that councillors and officials would discuss the facilities they would receive in the new budget.
Many observers have criticized the proposed 2003 budget for allocating Rp 90 billion for the 85 councillors and Rp 9 billion for Governor Sutiyoso.
These critics pointed out that in comparison, the proposed budget only allocated Rp 26 billion for the city's 1.2 million poor residents.