Councillors pocket allowances for empty homes

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Up to 39 of the 45 members of the Tangerang Municipal Council appear to be accepting a Rp 1 million (US$118) monthly maintenance allowance for their official residences despite the fact that the houses are not being occupied.

A visit by The Jakarta Post to the council's housing complex in Gebang Raya subdistrict, Periuk district, on Saturday found that only six councillors were living in their official residences with their families.

The other five houses have been rented out by the councillors while the rest are unoccupied and in poor condition. Many of the empty houses are without doors or have broken windows. Scrub has completely taken over their front gardens.

The Tangerang municipal administration allocates some Rp 540 million per year on maintenance allowances for the councillors' official residences out of its annual budget. It appears the system has been widely abused, with the majority of councillors preferring to live in their own houses.

Former Tangerang mayor M. Thamrin, who was replaced by incumbent mayor Wahidin Halim last October, had said in his annual accountability statements during his term that the councillors' maintenance allowances had all been taken up and used for the purposes for which they were intended.

The head of the municipal secretariat's general affairs department, Abdurahman, and the head of the Tangerang Resettlement and Housing Agency, Ayi Sugandi, claimed they knew nothing about the abuses that were occurring and denied they were responsible for paying out the allowances.

"We don't handle the distribution of the maintenance allowances anymore. This is now directly managed by the council secretary," Ayi said.

Council Secretary Daryanto confirmed that each councillor personally claimed the Rp 1 million monthly maintenance allowance.

However, he refused to say why the councillors were being paid the allowance if they were not living in their official residences.

"Please ask the councillors about the money. I've no comment to make on that," he said.

The council speaker, Gian Sugiharsono, also refused to explain the misuse of the maintenance allowances when the Post contacted him in Serang by phone.

"I can't answer that. Just ask the other councillors," he said.