`Councillors' trips are a waste of money'

`Councillors' trips are a waste of money'

The city administration said it had allocated a part of the city
budget to finance 32 councillors' trips to South Korea, Beijing,
Bangkok, Spain and Morocco for comparative studies. The City
Revenue Agency disbursed between Rp 120 million and Rp 150
million for each trip. The Jakarta Post talked to several city
residents who have criticized the people's representatives for
not siding with the public.

Johan, 56, is a newspaper vendor at the Kota train station in
Central Jakarta. He resides in Pasar Ikan, North Jakarta, with
his wife and two children:

I don't blame the city councillors who made the recent trips
abroad. I know it was a waste of the city budget as no clear
results came out of the trips. I don't care about where they
went, even if it was to another planet. But I do blame the
persons that allowed them to go.

Those who permitted the trips must be held accountable for
their wrongdoing. I guess they don't have a good sense of crisis.
How could they allow the city councillors to waste so much money
during this economic slump?

On the one hand, to err is human. They might forget their
ethics and morality. But if they continue to make mistakes, I
think that isn't human anymore. And city councillors and other
high-ranking officials always make the same mistakes.

So I'm wondering how they can act as representatives of the
residents here? They are somewhat immoral in this case and they
do not deserve to represent the people.

In my life, I am sorry to say that some civil servants here
sometimes take my papers without paying. They are rude to me when
I ask for payment. They get a monthly salary but they help
themselves to my papers. I think that's where the corrupt
mentality begins.

Sarwani, 46, has been an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver in
Bandengan Utara, North Jakarta, for five years. He is married and
has four children:

If the city councillors are guilty of taking these
controversial trips, then that really upsets me.

The city councillors are deemed the people's representatives
so they should be well aware that the current economic situation
has made people's lives here a lot harder. How dare they make
these costly trips.

I'm sure they don't deserve to be representing the people.
Even if they hadn't have made those trips, I wouldn't trust them
anymore.

I certainly won't be voting for any party or anyone in the
upcoming general election. It's useless. The leaders are just
liars since they never side with the poor.

If the public keeps silent, that is because we are always not
informed. If we always knew how they were behaving, we would be
angry. Despite living in poverty, low-income earners such as
myself, are the taxpayers who pay their salaries.

Ferry, 27, is a sidewalk vendor who sells VCDs in Senen,
Central Jakarta. He lives in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta with his
brother:

The news that the city councillors' took foreign trips
irritates me. I wonder if they still deserve to be called the
people's representatives.

Their behavior obviously shows that they do not care about
people who earn a low income. I cannot imagine how much they have
spent of the money collected in taxes from people like us.

If they had any common sense, the part of the budget used for
their trips could have been used to help the socially
disadvantaged in the city.

I wonder if they know that city residents are hardly able to
survive on a daily basis. It's really tough to get by. I can feel
it.

I'm pessimistic. What can we do about it? I'm sure they would
never listen to what we had to say. Well, the most important
thing is getting my next meal rather than thinking about a futile
situation like that.

Dadang, 43, has been a sidewalk vendor selling soft drinks and
cigarettes on Jl. Kakap in North Jakarta for three years. He
resides nearby with his wife and four children:

To be honest, the attitudes of city councillors have really
hurt the feelings of ordinary people like me.

They shouldn't have done that (taken trips abroad using the
city budget). It's not the right time for them to go.

As they are the people's representatives here, we feel that
they have betrayed us. They don't represent the people.

But, what can we, as people living on a low income, do?
Nothing. They will just continue their crooked ways, I'm sure.

It's better for me just to think about how I'm going to be
able to feed my family tomorrow, and that's all.

-- Leo Wahyudi S