City Council approves 2002 budget revision

City Council approves 2002 budget revision

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The City Council approved on Friday the revision of the 2002
city budget, which will be increased from Rp 9.3 trillion
(US$1.033 billion) to Rp 9.7 trillion, through voting due to a
rejection of the revision by two factions.

The factions, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Justice
Party (PK), disagreed with the allocation of funds worth Rp 54
billion, which were to have been used to finance the busway
project, for other projects.

Some 44 councillors, mostly from the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Golkar Party, agreed with
the change in the budget allocation while eight councillors
rejected it and two councillors abstained.

"We do not agree with the decision to not retain the fund for
the busway in the 2003 budget. The fund should not be used for
other projects," PK spokesman Mukhayar R.M. said in a council
plenary session.

Mukhayar said the projects that were proposed to replace
subway project, were still unclear and had never been planned and
discussed with the council.

However, PK which only has four councillors and PAN with 13
councillors could not change the vote of the 85-seat council.

The city administration earlier announced that the busway
project, designed to solve the city's traffic problems, was
postponed until next year due to the lack of consultation with
the public and financial preparation.

Many have said that the project would worsen traffic jams and
cause environmental damage because it would involve felling trees
in the median strip on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin.

After deciding the project would be postponed, the
administration then proposed to use the Rp 54 billion busway fund
for other projects, including the purchase of digital traffic
lights.

However, rumors circulating among councillors have it that the
fund and other funds in the budget had been used to finance the
recent gubernatorial election in which Governor Sutiyoso was
reelected for a second term.

The increase in the projected 2002 budget from Rp 9.3 trillion
to Rp 9.7 trillion was due to the increase in city revenue,
mainly from taxes.

The city revenue mostly comes from vehicle taxes, which
contribute more than 60 percent of total revenue, and income tax.

Asked whether the city administration could reach its revenue
target from entertainment centers due to the recent Bali bombing,
Deputy Governor Fauzi Bowo replied, "We will see. It also
depends on the central government whether it will review the
state budget."

However, Fauzi predicted that income from taxes on hotels,
restaurants and entertainment centers might decrease due to the
Bali bomb blast last week.

But he said the impact would not be significant since hotel,
restaurant and entertainment taxes constituted less than 10
percent of the city revenue.

Of the 9.7 trillion budget, Rp 3.62 trillion would be spent
for development spending and Rp 6.1 trillion for routine
expenditure. Last year's budget amounted to Rp 8.3 trillion.

City councillors earlier criticized the increase in routine
expenditure, especially the Rp 10 billion for employees'
salaries, although there was no increase in the number of
employees.

The reviewed budget also proposed the erection of a new fence
for the City Council building worth Rp 450 million, but the
proposal was rejected by the city administration.