Councillors worried about salaries
Councillors worried about salaries
Yuliansyah, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin
After briskly voting South Kalimantan Governor Sjachriel Dahram
out of office, provincial councillors there are now expressing
worries that they will not receive their monthly salaries for
September.
South Kalimantan legislature Speaker Mansyah Add said on
Tuesday that he had met with the provincial administration's head
of finance division Zainal Muchlis and that Zainal had been
instructed by Sjachriel not to disburse the councillors'
salaries.
"We wouldn't dare to disburse the money before the governor
had given his permission," Zainal was quoted by Mansyah as
saying.
Sjachriel is reportedly on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Mansyah said he had discussed the issue with provincial
secretary Baderani, who promised to talk to Sjachriel and Zainal.
However, he said that he could not conclude that Sjachriel had
ordered a delay as an act of revenge.
The issue became a hot topic in the legislature's meeting
agenda as the 45 councillors were suspicious that Sjachriel had
tried to retaliate by withholding their salary.
The legislature fired Sjachriel on Aug. 21 this year after
protesters occupied the council building and threatened to stay
if the local councillors did not act on corruption allegations
against the governor.
Sjachriel, however, vowed to stay on in office until President
Megawati Soekarnoputri had signaled her approval of the council's
move.
Minister for Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said earlier that the
government still recognized Sjachriel as the legitimate governor
of South Kalimantan.
Elsewhere, Mansyah said that the legislature had asked the
province's internal audit body (BPKP) to trace the Rp 50 billion
in funds transferred by Sjachriel from Bank Pembangunan Daerah
(BPD) to Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) 1946.
He added that the legislature had also asked the provincial
police and prosecutors to investigate a withdrawal of money
amounting to Rp 200 million from BPD by the provincial
administration without any clearly stated purpose.
"The fund transfer is against existing regulations because
BPD, whether it pays high interest or not, belongs to the
provincial administration and manages the funds for provincial
development programs and other expenses," he said.
Meanwhile, deputy governor Husin Kasah was quoted by Antara as
saying that at present he was in charge of the province as
Sjachriel had departed on Tuesday to prepare for his minor hajj
pilgrimage (umroh).
He said that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had given her
permission to Sjachriel to travel overseas from Sept. 20 to
Oct.5.
"But the governor plans to be back on Oct. 10," Husin said.