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)