Councillors to defy protests against overseas trip

Councillors to defy protests against overseas trip

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Despite protests from activists and other local people, as many
as 19 members of the Central Java legislative council are going
ahead with their plan for an overseas trip.

The councillors, all members of the council's Commission B,
are scheduled to leave for Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on
Thursday for a three-day visit ending Sept. 21.

Commission B chairman Muchson Burhani said the visit was to
attend an Indonesian exhibition in Sarjah, which features
commodity products from Surakarta, Central Java.

The visit was planned after the councillors failed to go to
Europe and the United States following mounting protests from the
public.

"Actually, all the Commission B members previously wanted to
visit Europe and the U.S., but it was canceled. Now we will soon
leave for Sarjah," Muchson said on Monday.

He said at least 25 businesspeople from Central Java had
already left for the United Arab Emirates on Sept. 13 to prepare
for the Indonesian Solo Exhibition to promote the province's
commodity products, including furniture, brass handicraft and
others.

Muchson said the trip would spend around Rp 100 million
(US$11,764) from the province's budget.

However, non-governmental organizations criticized the
councillors' visit, saying it would only waste public money as
the purpose was not clear.

"Their departure is only to have fun abroad and the visit is
not significant for the people at large," said Jawade Hafidz,
chairman of the Consortium of Non-Governmental Organizations for
Anti-Money Politics (Kolamp).

He accused the councillors of lying to the local people as
they would arrive in Sharjah as the four-day exhibition ends on
Sept. 20.

Another Commission B member, Sutoyo Abadi, defended the trip,
saying it was his and other councillors' right to take trips
using the state funds.