City council question budget allocation for Korpri
City council question budget allocation for Korpri
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Council questioned on Thursday the allocation of Rp
1.8 billion (US$180,000) from the 2001 City Budget in the form of
a donation to the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Civil
Servants Association (Korpri).
Secretary of the council's commission C for fiscal and
budgetary affairs, Azis Buang, suggested that the donation was
ineffective as Korpri has no significant activities at present.
"The council wants to decline the allocation. It's better to
spend the money on poor people," said Azis, a member of the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.
He said that, because Korpri has no clear activities, the
donation could be abused by executives of the organization.
He urged the administration to immediately explain the use of
the funds.
Separately, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso admitted that the
administration still allocated funds to support Korpri, because
the money was originally deducted from the monthly salaries of
civil servants.
"If the donation does not reach the target, we could review
it. I will ask my staff about it," Sutiyoso said at City Hall.
He admitted that Korpri's activities might not be relevant to
civil servants and pledged to give further consideration to the
use of the fund.
In the past, Korpri's funds were reportedly used to support
the former ruling Golkar Party.
Last year, the city allocated Rp 2 billion to Korpri's city
chapter.
Earlier this year, Korpri's former city chapter executive
Nasrul Idrus was reported to the police and prosecutor's office
over alleged corruption involving Rp 4.3 billion.
Nasrul, who was then moved to the city's civil registration
office, asserted that the scam was conducted by Kopri's
executives between 1997 and 2000.
The administration announced recently that it had found
irregularities in the financial management of Korpri's city
chapter, which resulted in Rp 38 million in losses.
Some 11 officials, including Nasrul, were given administrative
sanctions for abusing the funds.