Councillors pocket allowances for empty homes

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.