City rapped for hiking budget but ignoring public interests

City rapped for hiking budget but ignoring public interests

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The city administration was rebuked on Wednesday for trying to
squeeze more money out of the public by increasing taxes while at
the same time being incapable of spending Rp 2.1 trillion of the
Rp 9.7 trillion 2002 City Budget on projects that would benefit
the public.

"They only think about how to make money from taxes, but they
don't know how to use it the money in the public interest," Urban
Poor Consortium (UPC) chairwoman Wardah Hafidz told The Jakarta
Post on Wednesday.

The UPC and a number of non-governmental organizations (NGO)
grouped in the NGO Alliance for Budget Transparency (KOTA)
previously sued the Jakarta administration and the City Council
over the 2000 City Budget. But the court rejected the lawsuit.

Wardah viewed the city administration as being a stranger to
proper planning. Instead, they only planned how to spend public
funds on projects proposed by city offices and agencies, and how
to make money from the projects.

She also predicted that the majority of city councillors might
at first reject and protest the project proposals contained in
the budget, but would finally accept the budget after having been
paid off.

"So, we should not expect the councillors to urge a review of
the budget. The public has to protest directly about the budget,"
she asserted.

The city administration on Monday announced that the 2003
Budget would amount to Rp 10.6 trillion, including Rp 2.1
trillion left over from the 2002 budget.

It claimed that 30 percent of next year's budget would be used
to cover the cost of running the apparatus while the remainder
would be used for public spending.

Finance Assistant to the City Secretary Makmun Amin said on
Wednesday that some Rp 700 billion of the Rp 2.1 trillion
originated from this year's revenues, while the remaining Rp 1.5
trillion, or 13 percent of the 2002 budget, consisted of unspent
development allocations.

He said the increase in revenue under the 2003 budget was
unavoidable as some of it was due to tax hikes, which were the
responsibility of the central government, while the increase in
the number of vehicles here had also contributed to the rise in
revenue.

The administration has predicted it will receive Rp 4.5
trillion in revenue next year, mostly from vehicle taxes, land
and property taxes, and hotel, restaurant and entertainment
taxes. It also expected to receive Rp 4 trillion in general
allocation fund payments from the central government.

Separately, councillor Muhayar of the Justice Party also
criticized the administration over the unspent money.

"It shows poor management by the city administration," said
Muhayar, who is also a member of the council's Commission D for
development affairs, on Wednesday.

He blasted the administration for the slow tender processes
involved in many of the projects and inaccurate estimates for
land appropriation, which had caused the failure to carry out the
projects.

Many projects, such as Governor Sutiyoso's much-touted busway
project and land appropriations for the East Flood Canal project
and public parks, could not be realized this year.

The administration plans to submit the 2003 budget early next
month to the City Council. The councillors are expected to
approve the budget in January next year at the latest.

In previous years, the councillors often criticized proposed
budgets and promised to reject certain projects, but always ended
up giving their approval after the projects were "explained" by
the administration, and sweeteners in the form of even more
facilities and allowances were promised to them.