Council approves revised city budget

Council approves revised city budget

JAKARTA (JP): All factions of the City Council have approved
the revised city budget of Rp 8.14 trillion (US$856.8 million)
for 2001, an increase of 8.6 percent from about Rp 7.5 trillion
approved last December.

Some Rp 5.51 trillion of the budget will be allocated for
routine expenditure, while the balance will be for development
expenditure.

The new budget does not appear to accommodate much in the way
of public interest, as there is not much increase in the budget
allocated for public welfare.

The public welfare sector will receive Rp 81.7 billion, an
increase of 4.7 percent from about Rp 78 billion last year.

Under this budget sector, the city administration decided not
to increase the fund of Rp 625 million for improving the social
welfare of the urban poor.

The budget also allocates Rp 4 billion to buy land for the
development of small shops for small businesses and street
vendors.

Some Rp 3.1 billion has been assigned for the governor's
operational costs, a decrease of 48.4 percent from Rp 4.6 billion
last year. For the maintenance cost of the governor's official
house it has allocated Rp 630 million, an increase of 31.25
percent from Rp 480 million last year.

The increase of funds allocated for the official house
maintenance is to adjust to the rise in water, electricity and
telephone rates.

There is also a decline in the budget allocated for the public
garbage service, from Rp 10.3 billion to Rp 8.4 billion despite
the city's urgent need for handling waste.

The public security sector will only receive Rp 45.4 billion
while the budget for special subsidies of the city administration
will get Rp 55.7 billion.

For education, the city administration has provided Rp 209.6
billion in this year's budget.

Fire fighters will receive Rp 3.4 billion to purchase 500
water hoses and 200 fireproof jackets to help improve the fire
department's performance.

The city administration has also increased the budget
allocated for the establishment of an Islamic Center in Kramat
Tunggak, Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, which used to be a red-
light district.

In Thursday's hearing, the Golkar faction warned that the
construction process should be handled with care and continuous
supervision, as they had received reports of some irregularities
in securing the land for the construction of the Islamic Center.

"The city administration should handle it (Kramat Tunggak)
carefully as we've heard that dirty tricks had been practiced in
clearing the red-light district to secure the site of the Islamic
Center," said Ade Surapriatna, during the council's plenary
session. (06)