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.