Councillors complain about late salary
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although considered to be wealthy, city councillors complained on Monday that their monthly salaries, which amounted to about Rp 9 million (US$1,000) each, had yet to be disbursed due to the late approval of the 2003 city budget.
"Yes, the wages have not yet been disbursed. It's really annoying," councillor A Rahman of the United Development Party (PPP) said.
Rahman, a former executive of city-owned developer PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, felt that the delayed payment indicated the chaotic state of the city administration.
Councillor Mardjuan Bakri of the National Mandate Party said the city administration should have anticipated the problem by allocating funds for the councillors' salaries, as the same thing happened last year when the budget was also late being approved.
"As I'm also a businessman, it doesn't affect me. But my party needs part of my councillor salary," Mardjuan of Council Commission A for legal and administrative affairs said.
He revealed that 25 percent of his monthly basic salary, which amounted to about Rp 9 million, was donated to his party to finance its activities.
Council deputy chairman Chudlary Syafei Hadzami urged city Governor Sutiyoso to lend money to cover the councillors' salaries while the 2003 budget awaited approval.
"We will send a letter to the governor asking him to lend the funds to cover the payments," said Chudlary of PPP.
Separately, city spokesman Muhayat also confirmed on Monday that the councillors' salaries could not be disbursed due to late approval of the budget.
"The salaries are considered to be non-fixed income, which requires budget approval, while civil servant salaries are considered to be fixed income, which could be covered by the previous year's budget," Muhayat said.
Besides a basic salary of Rp 9 million, the 85 councillors receive allowances that can reach Rp 2 million to Rp 4 million per month.
This year's budget allocates Rp 91.6 billion to councillors, including Rp 42.3 billion for salaries and transportation and Rp 1.04 billion for clothing allowances.
The budget also allocates Rp 19 billion to their welfare allowance, plus further allowances of Rp 10 billion (operational expenses), Rp 1.4 billion (attendance) and Rp 1.5 billion (health).
Earlier, many observers criticized councillors for demanding that their financial recompense, such as salaries and allowances, be disbursed on time, yet failing to put in a good performance.
Besides deploring the allocation of funds for the councillors, the observers also criticized the allocation of money for Sutiyoso.
The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) lamented on Friday the allotment of Rp 9.4 billion for Sutiyoso in the 2003 budget.
Part of the Rp 9.4 billion, according to the budget proposal, was allocated to the governor's contingency fund and Rp 900 million for Sutiyoso's coffee mornings.
Upset at the report, Sutiyoso criticized the non-governmental organization on Monday for not being aware of the governor's responsibility for receiving guests.
"It's not only coffee, as we also provide cookies if we receive guests. I even don't drink coffee," he told reporters at City Hall.
However, he said he would not object if the city council wanted to reduce the allocation of Rp 9.4 billion, including that for coffee mornings.
The governor is scheduled to officially submit the 2003 budget proposal, amounting Rp 11 trillion, on Tuesday evening. The budget is planned to be approved by the Council on Jan. 31.