City budget must

City budget must
be people oriented

From Media Indonesia

With regard to regional autonomy, the city administration has
now been given a free hand to manage its funds to augment its
income and to carry out city development activities. This is,
perhaps, closely related to the significant increase in vehicle
tax in Jakarta.

The higher rate of vehicle tax has burdened many city
residents, especially from the middle level downwards, but they
are still hoping the city administration will improve its
services to the community.

With the budget year drawing to a close, however, the city
administration is still yet to provide better services as, for
example, administration officers continue to collect money from
residents for processing their identity cards even though it is
said to be free of charge. Many roads in the suburbs are in bad
repair. Missing or broken traffic signs are often not replaced
and many street vendors still occupy parts of some of the city's
roads, causing heavy traffic jams. Not to mention the piles of
garbage in some of the traditional markets that are often not
collected on time and the many buskers extorting money from bus
passengers. And yes, security in the city is still seriously
affected by all kinds of criminal acts.

Public funds are not spent for the maximum interests of the
people. It seems that the city administration would rather
provide facilities for its officials than repair public
facilities. All this shows that the city council cannot
accomplish its duty as the people's representatives. The
respected city councilors cannot voice their people's aspirations
as they have their own vested interest in building their own
fortunes.

It explains why meetings on the city budget plan between the
city council and the city administration are not aimed at
utilizing public funds for the welfare of the people but at
reaching a win-win solution for the sake of both institutions.

The result is the list of activities and figures that we can
see in the current budget of the Jakarta city administration.
Hopefully, President Megawati Soekarnoputri can focus her
attention on the irregularities in the budget policies so that
the budget will no longer be official-oriented but people-
oriented.

EFFENDY AHMAD

Depok, West Java