Councilors make illegal trips

SURABAYA: The local police here have begun a preliminary investigation into 18 provincial councilors who allegedly changed their official domestic trips to overseas tours, Surabaya Regional Police detective chief Asst. Supt. Edwin M.B. said on Thursday.

Among the legislators was head of Commission B for economic affairs Mahfudz Basya, who later admitted to have "secretly changed the group's working trips from Medan, Batam and Menado to overseas travel which included Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand."

"When we reached Batam, we (the 18 councilors) agreed not to proceed with the working trip and went to Singapore instead," he said.

The East Java Council paid a total of Rp 153 million for the trip, or Rp 18.5 million per legislator, police said.

Police, however, were still waiting for an official permit from the Ministry of Home Affairs to intensively probe the case. (nur/edt)