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.