Councillors propose extra Rp 14b for routine spending
Councillors propose extra Rp 14b for routine spending
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The budget committee of the East Java provincial legislative
council was found on Monday to have proposed an additional budget
of Rp 14 billion for council routine spending.
The reasons for the proposed additional expenditure were
unclear.
During a meeting between councillors and provincial
administration officials involved with the budget committee,
several councillors objected to the proposal due to its lack of
transparency.
"The original budget for us should be Rp 9.8 billion. Why is
there now another Rp 14 billion and why have we not been informed
about what it is for? We will be considered as having betrayed
our constituents," Budi Hardjono of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said.
According to Budi, he had initially heard about the
controversial proposal from the council deputy speaker Sutomo on
Saturday.
The meeting was held to hear the budget committee's report,
which was presented by its spokesman Buchori.
East Java Governor Imam Utomo was also present at the meeting.
The controversy has confirmed the poor image of the country's
legislators at both the national and local levels. Many say the
legislators are only after money but fail to carry out their
duties, including legislating and supervising the executive.
The House of Representatives has recently asked the central
government to provide more money to speed up the deliberation of
legislation, which is its main responsibility.
In West Java, local councillors have also demanded incentives
for work they are supposed to do anyway.
Budi said the proposal from the budget committee should have
been discussed during previous meetings.
"It's clearly not transparent and goes against the ethics of
the legislative body. If we continue this way, we'd better tear
up the code of ethics," he said.
Aside from Budi, Arif Junaidi of the National Awakening Party
(PKB) faction, Andrianus Harsono of the PDI Perjuangan faction
and Haruna Sumitro of the United faction joined in the protest.
The provincial council speaker, Bisrie Abdul Djalil, played
down the controversy, saying that negotiations over the
additional budget were still underway.
"The Rp 14 billion supplemental budget is still being debated.
So far, our budget for this fiscal year remains Rp 9.8 billion,"
he said at the end of the meeting.