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.