Council tells governor to revise city's strategic plan

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City Council factions told Governor Sutiyoso on Saturday to revise his five-year Strategic Plan (Renstra), which they regard as "unclear and absurd".

During a plenary session in response to Sutiyoso's plan, they asked Sutiyoso to come up with concrete programs, because the plan only mentioned the goals without elaborating on the methods to achieve them.

"His Strategic Plan does not include principles of consistency, transparency or certainty. It is absurd and a case of top-down planning," the United Development Party's spokeswoman Hizbiyah Rochim said.

She said her faction recommended that programs such as the development of a mass rapid transit (MRT) system and the East Flood Canal should have been included in the plan.

For the next five years, Sutiyoso promised to work hard and to make great efforts to anticipate floods, but there is no explanation in detail on how he will do that. The same is also seen in other fields such as transportation, health and education.

Sutiyoso vowed to improve the transportation services, medical services and the education for the people, without sufficiently elaborating on how he would accomplish those tasks or what percentage of the budget would be allocated.

"The lack of detail in the Renstra will make if difficult for us to evaluate the governor's performance," the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's faction spokesman M. Nakoem said in the session.

According to Government Regulation No. 108/2000 on local administration, a newly elected governor is obliged to prepare a five-year Strategic Plan (Renstra) for development.

The Strategic Plan, which must be approved by the council, can be used to evaluate the performance of the governor. Additionally, according to Regulation No.108/2000, councillors can impeach the governor at any time if he or she fails to implement an approved Strategic Plan.

Sutiyoso, who was reelected in September, submitted his plan to the City Council on Tuesday.

After the council's factions presented their views on the Strategic Plan on Saturday, Sutiyoso later this week will respond to the general views. The councillors will have a discussion with Sutiyoso and other administration officials before they state their final decision on the plan by the end of the month.

In the past, the council criticized Sutiyoso's yearly budget speeches and his accountability speech, but after further wrangling, they later accepted them, despite some lingering misgivings.

The National Mandate Party faction spokesman Mardjuan Bakri suggested that the administration should include concrete programs, such as allocating a specific and significant amount of the budget for education.

"How much is the allocation fund for education? It is supposed to be at least 20 percent according to the newly amended Constitution," Mardjuan asked in the plenary session.

The recent amendment of the Constitution said at least 20 percent of the State Budget should be allocated for education programs.

About Rp 500 billion (or 5.1 percent) of the current city budget which amounts to Rp 9.7 trillion, was allocated for education this year.

Separately, City Spokesman Muhayat admitted that there were no details about the targets or the programs in the Strategic Plan, but said that the it was still open for correction.

"If the council wants certain programs to be included in the Renstra, it could be considered," Muhayat told reporters.