Construction of governor's residence to go ahead
Construction of governor's residence to go ahead
JAKARTA (JP): The planned construction of a Rp 7.2 billion
(US$3.2 million) official residence for the governor of Central
Java is set to go ahead, despite growing criticism from various
quarters.
Governor Soewardi was quoted by the Kompas daily yesterday as
saying that the planned house was not at all expensive, given the
fact that it would be built on a 1.2-hectare plot of land with
construction costs of Rp 1.4 million per square meter.
Two members of the House of Representatives, however, threw
their weight behind Central Java councilors in criticizing the
plan.
A.M. Saefuddin of the House Commission X for supervision of
the state budget and Soenarjo of House Commission II for home
affairs agreed said the construction cost was too high for a
region which still has many poor people.
"This plan is just not ethical," Saefuddin told The Jakarta
Post yesterday. "The priority of our development is too improve
the welfare of the people...The planned construction is against
that."
"There are many poor villages in the province which need to be
developed," Soenarjo said. "It would be better to use some of the
money for rural development programs."
Soenarjo added that the National Development Planning Board
has set the standard cost for the construction of government
offices and buildings at about Rp 600,000 per sq. meter.
Saefuddin called for accountability and effective supervision
of provincial administrations' spending of regional budgets.
Soewardi, however, has argued that the planned cost is still
lower than that of the construction in 1988 of the building
housing the provincial legislative council, which cost Rp 1.1
million per sq. meter.
Soewardi also rejected the criticism that linked the planned
construction with the national program for poverty alleviation.
The central government has allocated Rp 100 billion for
poverty alleviation program in the province, he said while the
Central Java administration has allocated a further Rp 25
billion.
Thus, the cost of building the official residence is less than
5 percent of the total figure, he said.
The governor's house is expected to be completed by 1997. (01)