Council questions Rp 1.8 budget for Korpri Ahmad Junaidi The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The City Council questioned on Thursday the allocation of Rp 1.8 billion (US$200,000) 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 case is still being investigated.

Last year, the administration announced 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.