Council unwilling to follow Sutiyoso in allocation cut
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Governor Sutiyoso has agreed to a reduction in the Rp 9 billion (US$1 million) allocated to him in the 2003 draft city budget to about Rp 5 billion, but city councillors are against the idea, saying it should be cut by just Rp 950 million.
"I checked the allocation of the money and suggested it be decreased to about Rp 5 billion," Sutiyoso announced at City Hall on Monday.
He expressed hope that the reduction would prompt a willingness on the part of councillors to agree to a reduction in the allocation for them. The allocation for councillors is Rp 122 billion.
He said the money saved by the reductions in allocations for the governor, councillors and city officers could be added to the allocations for public projects, such as the East Flood Canal project and the development of low-cost apartments.
However, a special council team that was assigned to devise the budget disagreed with Sutiyoso, and instead suggested cutting the governor's allocation by Rp 950 million, or about 10 percent.
The team, consisting of 32 city councillors and city officials, agreed to cut the allocation for the 85 councillors by only 3 percent, or about Rp 4.5 billion.
The team's chairwoman, Anna Rudhiantiana, revealed that Rp 122 billion, not Rp 91 billion as reported earlier, would be allocated for the councillors.
She said most of the councillors were against having their allocation significantly reduced.
"I suggested that our allocation could be decreased by 10 percent, but other councillors rejected the idea," Anna, who is also chairwoman of the council's Commission C for financial and budgetary affairs, said on Monday.
She revealed that the meetings to discuss the allocation of funds, which started on Saturday, were marked by heated arguments when the councillors discussed the amount they would receive.
Separately, special council team member Fathomy Ashari revealed that the council rejected the governor's suggestion of a 40 percent decrease from Rp 9 billion to Rp 5 billion, saying that as a public leader, it was necessary for the governor to have such an amount at his disposal.
"The governor as a public leader needs the funds. For example, he often donates money when visiting certain areas," Fathomy of the Golkar Party said.
According to the draft budget, the Rp 9 billion is to be used to cover, among other things, the governor's coffee morning (Rp 90 million), clothing allowance (Rp 65 million) and health allowance (Rp 100 million).
The Rp 122 billion for councillors is to be used for, among other things, the councillors' salaries, a transportation allowance of Rp 42.38 billion, a clothing allowance of Rp 1 billion, a welfare allowance of Rp 19 billion, a meeting allowance of Rp 1.5 billion and a rice allowance of Rp 84 million.
In an apparent display of power, city councillors decided on Saturday to reject dozens of projects worth billions of rupiah in the draft budget, including the allocation of Rp 475 million for the development of a mangrove forest along the Prof. Sedyatmo toll road in West Jakarta.
Councillor Dani Anwar of the Justice Party revealed that the 2002 budget had allocated Rp 1 billion for the mangrove forest project, last year.
"We rejected the additional funding this year since we should first check the project. Rp 1 billion is enough for the project," Dani of Commission B for economic affairs said.
The 2003 draft budget, which amounts to Rp 11.06 billion, is expected to be approved by the council by the end of this month.
Besides the allocation of Rp 9 billion for the governor and Rp 122 billion for the councillors, many city agencies and offices have also allocated funds for the city's leaders.