Councillors queried for using state funds for their studies

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of activists from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) gathered at City Council on Wednesday to protest the use of city funds by councillors to finance their education.

The activists urged PDI Perjuangan councillors to either reject the "scholarships" or resign from council.

"We believe that education is the personal matter of the councillors. If they use the city budget for their studies, it could be considered as corruption," the group's coordinator, Dedi, said.

He urged the party's faction at council to dismiss councillors who refuse to resign but still accept city funding for their undergraduate or postgraduate studies.

Dedi said councillors should help Jakarta residents who are suffering from the economic crisis, instead of exploiting the city's funds for their own personal advancement.

Dressed entirely in black, the activists unfurled several posters stating: "Stupid councillors should resign", "People suffer because their councillors are stupid".

PDI Perjuangan's own councillors, however, avoided the activists' attempts to meet them by using alternative exits.

Party faction chairman Audy I.Z. Tambunan, who was present at his office on Wednesday, left as the activists gathered.

The faction's deputy chairman Lambertus Gaina Dara was seen walking out through the council's backyard.

"Let them say whatever they want," Lambertus said when he was stopped by reporters leaving the council building through the basement parking lot.

Another one of the party's 30 councillors, Binsar Tambunan, refused to comment.

"You'd better ask the faction's chairman to comment," Binsar, who is also the chairman of City Council Commission A for legal and administrative affairs, said.

A reliable source said each of the 85 city councillors was allocated Rp 10 million (US$909) a year from the city budget for educational purposes.

Councillors who do not enter degree programs may be allowed to use the money for taking courses, such as an English language course, the source said.

The source said the funds were taken from the Rp 12 billion allocated under councillors' travel allowances in the 2001 city budget.

About Rp 7 billion of the funds have been used to finance councillors' overseas trips to, among others, the United States, Argentina and Mexico, the source said.

Most councillors are currently taking undergraduate degrees in political science at 17 Agustus University and master degrees in management at the Jagakarsa Institute of Economics.

The special programs are specifically tailored for the councillors with lectures conducted at the council building twice a week in the evenings.

Separately, City Governor Sutiyoso maintained on Wednesday that there was no specific allocation in the city budget for a councillors' study allowance.

"There is no special fund for it," Sutiyoso said from City Hall.

But the governor refused to comment further, claiming that he had no authority to decide the use of the budget allocated for councillors.(jun)