Councillors travel world on taxpayer dosh

Councillors travel world on taxpayer dosh

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Despite public protests from local residents, members of the
Central Java legislative council are reportedly planning
expensive overseas trips as others made a quiet visit to several
foreign countries for unexplained reasons.

Members of the council's Commission C visited Batam island,
Singapore, Thailand, China and Kuala Lumpur on a whirlwind one-
week tour. They arrived back here on Oct. 1.

Additionally, councillors from four other commissions are
apparently planning trips abroad without a clear reason, which
will be paid for using taxpayer funds.

In a similar move on Sept. 18, at least 19 members of
Commission B on the council defied protests by going ahead with
visiting Syarjah, United Arab Emirates, in a three-day trip
funded by the provincial budget.

When they left for Syarjah, dozens of students pelted the
council building with rotten eggs and Rp 100 coins in a protest
against the overseas trip.

The Commission B members are now planning to visit Japan and
South Korea in the near future, according to councillors, who
declined to be named, on Thursday. No date was specified.

Similarly, members of Commission A also recently made a visit
to South Korea and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, while those from
Commission D will make a separate trip to Turkey, with the
members of Commission E going to South Korea.

Nurkamilah, a councillor from Commission C, admitted that she
and her colleagues had visited Batam. However, she declined to
comment on the reported overseas visit.

"We had just arrived home from Batam (on Oct. 1)," she said in
the Central Java capital of Semarang.

Another Commission C member Suyatno confirmed the visit to
Batam, from which sources said he and fellow councillors headed
to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and China.

However, Wuwuh Beno Nugroho, a councillor from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), admitted that the
Commission C members made a visit to Hong Kong in China.

Sources claimed that the visit to the Asian countries was paid
for from the "funds from the Commission C's coffers, not the
province's budget." He did not, however, clarify how the two
were different, except in name.

Meanwhile, Noor Achmad from the Golkar Party said the
Commission C councillors had just arrived home from Szhen Szhen,
China.

"An overseas visit is no problem as long as the purpose is
clear and it can be made accountable. So, there is no need to
keep it a secret," Wuwuh said.

"The Commission A members recently visited South Korea, but I
did not take part. I joined them when they arrived in Dubai. The
purpose was clear and I can take responsibility for that," he
added without elaborating on exactly what their mission or
purpose was or whether they achieved anything of substance that
would be beneficial to their constituents.

It, therefore, remains unclear to the public as to the
reasoning or need for the overseas visits. Councillors who have
taken or are planning trips appeared to be evading journalists
when asked about them.

Critics of such excursions said they had been a "waste of
money" and that they had clearly ignored the condition of the
people, many of whom are suffering hardships due to poverty.