Councillors want Rp 12.5m for housing

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The members of the City Council have submitted a proposal asking for a housing allowance for each councillor of Rp 12.5 million (US$1,390) per month, more than double their basic salary of around Rp 6 million per month.

Council speaker Ade Surapriatna said here on Monday that the City Council had submitted a proposal to Governor Sutiyoso, who is expected to issue a gubernatorial decree soon.

Ade, a councillor from the Golkar Party, said the amount was set based on rental fees of official houses now occupied by four leaders of the City Council.

"If the official houses in Pejaten subdistrict, South Jakarta are rented out, the rental fee is around Rp 15 million per month. Therefore, each councillor deserves to receive Rp 12.5 million of housing allowance monthly," Ade explained to journalists.

Jakarta has 75 councillors and the city administration provides four official houses for the speaker and the deputy speakers.

The housing allowance is just one of many fringe benefits given to regional councillors as stipulated in government regulation No. 24/2004 on protocol and financial matters of regional council leaders and members.

Based on the regulation, each councillor is also entitled to have health insurance, a basic monthly salary and various other incentives for their positions like council leaders, as well as members of commissions and special committees.

Councillors also receive bonuses after they finish deliberating on a bylaw.

According to Ade, the monthly salary of each councillor is around Rp 6 million. Each councillor also receives Rp 5 million for deliberating on one bylaw. "We can finish two bylaws a month, on average," he said.

Sutiyoso will issue a gubernatorial decree to elaborate on the remunerations for the city councillors.

In total, each Jakarta councillor could likely receive around Rp 28 million any given month.

Previously, deputy speaker Maringan Pangaribuan suggested that the "ideal income" of each councillor should be Rp 50 million per month.

Ade explained that the money was not only for their families, but also for their respective political parties and constituents.

"If each councillor needs Rp 1 million per day for their activities, Rp 50 million is the ideal monthly income for them," said Ade, apparently referring to Maringan's suggestion.

Commenting on the proposal, Governor Sutiyoso said on Monday that he could not immediately respond to it.

He, however, stressed that all spending from the city budget must be based on existing regulations.

"There have been many cases (of corruption) in other regions. Therefore, we must not waver from the current laws. Otherwise, we will be jailed. I don't want to take the risk," Sutiyoso said without going into detail.

Sutiyoso, however, said that he understood that the income of Jakarta councillors should be higher than their counterparts in other regions because of the high cost of living here.