Councilors warns against misuse of aid

Councilors warns against misuse of aid

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors and a community activist on
Friday said safeguards were needed to prevent patronage and
malfeasance in the disbursement of Rp 109.52 billion (US$14.6
million) in World Bank community development aid.

United Development Party faction secretary Saud Rahman, head
of the Indonesian Democratic Party Lukman Mokoginta and head of
the Urban Poor Consortium Wardah Hafidz were alarmed that members
of the Village Resilience Board (LKMD), in charge of channeling
the aid, offered no clear programs on empowering the community
economy.

Aid is earmarked for 265 LKMDs throughout the city's
subdistricts. About Rp 106.7 billion will be channeled directly
to the boards through state Bank Rakyat Indonesia, with the
remainder set aside for management and operational costs.

Disbursement has been postponed from the scheduled early
January until Jan. 15 due to discrepancies in its proposed usage.
Some board members proposed it be used to purchase items such as
automotives, water treatment machines, hearses, uniforms and
computers.

On Thursday, head of the city development planning board
Bambang Sungkono said the control mechanism for the aid usage was
entrusted to the local community.

Saud suspected aid would be used in money politics because
board members were usually people close to the government or the
ruling Golkar political grouping. Members of other parties were
usually excluded from the boards, although not officially.

"Who knows if the money will be used for funding Golkar's
interests for the (June 7) general election, because those
holding the money are their members."

He said the boards should be altered to include independent
people, including those from other political parties. "That's one
way toward transparency."

Saud said the money funneled to each LKMD and its allocation
should be declared to ensure the public could function as a
control against its misuse.

Otherwise the project would "just distribute money", Lukman
said.

He said it was understandable the announcement of the fund
would be followed by a crop of inappropriate proposals. It would
have been better to solicit proposals first, he added.

"That's why we don't see clear programs. Moreover, I am afraid
that the project won't be successful as in the past LKMDs failed
to manage funds provided under presidential or gubernatorial
instructions."

Lukman, also a member of the National Association of
Indonesian Consultants, said he had not heard of the involvement
of consultants.

Wardah underlined the importance of naming independent parties
to a special team to control the fund's usage.

She ridiculed the administration's claim that the public could
check against corruption. "How could people control the
allocation if they have no information on the aid?"

Many of the proposal outlines did nothing to empower the
community economy, she added, but instead showed an inclination
to misuse of funds.

"I have great suspicions that the fund will be used for money
politics, and I can say that it will be the source of large-scale
corruption as well."

Wardah recommended the World Bank first seek input from many
parties, including non-governmental organizations, before
allowing the disbursement.

"Because it is about people's money, isn't it?" she said.
(ind)