Central Java council gets rotten eggs

Central Java council gets rotten eggs

SEMARANG: Dozens of students pelted rotten eggs and Rp 100 coins at the Central Java legislative council on Thursday in a protest against an overseas trip by 19 of its members.

The 19 councillors from Commission B left for Syarjah, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday afternoon in a trip being paid for from the provincial budget.

The three-day visit is aimed at observing an exhibition there to promote commodities from Central Java. The exhibition, slated to end on Saturday, is sponsored by 25 businesspeople from the province.

"The trip to the Middle East is merely for pleasure. It is like collective corruption," protest leader Razzak Fauzan Aziz said.

The protesters numbered about 20 students from the Humanika Forum.

It will reportedly cost the state Rp 800 million (US$94,117) to send the councillors to the United Arab Emirates (not Rp 100 million as reported by The Jakarta Post on Thursday).

"It's a waste of money. They have clearly ignored the condition of the people, many of whom are suffering hardships due to poverty," Razzak said. --JP