Councillors get cash for shirts

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: The provincial legislative council has been accused of corruption in the use of funds allocated to buy official shirts for its members.

The council distributed the funds in cash to all 45 of its members, instead of providing them directly with official shirts.

Senior councillor Dahlan Syahranie said on Friday that the move was normal, so that the council members would be able to maximize the use of the funds to buy shirts.

But Non-Governmental Organizations Concerned for State Wealth (LSM-PKN) chairman Achmad Basori said his group is investigating alleged corruption the case.

The council had allotted Rp 20 million (US$2,222) from the province's 2004 budget to procure official shirts for each of the 45 councillors. --JP