Council to OK budget, retain US$1m for world tour
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After three weeks of closed-door discussions, the City Council is scheduled to approve the revised 2003 city budget on Monday, which includes Rp 9.6 billion (US$1.1 million) to pay for overseas trips for councillors.
Councillor Audi I.Z. Tambunan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) confirmed on Sunday the Rp 9.6 billion would be included in the budget.
"Several proposals will be maintained, including the fund (for foreign trips)," Audi, who is also secretary to the council's Commission E for people's welfare, told The Jakarta Post.
The Rp 9.6 billion will be used to send the city's 85 councillors to Jakarta's 11 sister cities around the world, including Los Angeles, Casablanca, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Rotterdam, Berlin, Paris and Bangkok.
Two years ago, three councillors were named as suspects in a corruption case for accepting travel allowances for trips they never went on. The case never went to court.
Bowing to intense public criticism, the council did not include money for foreign trips in last year's budget.
Though the council was able to find the money to pay for their foreign trips, they cut the budget for the fire department from Rp 201.5 billion to Rp 184.3 billion.
However, the councillors proved they are not immune to public criticism, scrapping their Rp 443.78 million clothing allowance for this year.
"We finally agreed to scrap the clothing allowance after much tough debate over the pros and cons of the allowance," Audi said.
This year's budget will be increased from Rp 11.07 trillion to Rp 11.65 trillion.
More than 60 percent of the city's revenue will come from taxes, mainly vehicle taxes. Thirty percent is from the central government and less than 10 percent from dozens of city-owned companies.
Administration officials and councillors are reportedly trying to take advantage of the Rp 579 billion budget increase by proposing "unclear" projects and programs.
It is uncertain whether these projects and programs will be approved on Monday.
Dani Anwar, secretary of Commission B for economic affairs, said the deliberation of those budget items related to economic affairs had been smooth.
"There were no significant changes in the economic affairs, so we completed our deliberations while other commissions were still deliberating," said Dani of the Justice Party.
The closed-door sessions have been criticized by the International NGO Forum for Indonesian Development, which said it would do nothing to dispel public suspicion of collusion between councillors and administration officials
"If the councillors want to overcome the suspicion of the people, they should invite the public to witness the deliberation process," said the NGO's Mohamad Suhud.