Foundation given mixed response

Foundation given mixed response

JAKARTA (JP): The establishment of a private foundation to
manage donations for the poor from firms and wealthy people
received a mixed greeting from politicians in the House of
Representatives yesterday.

The United Development Party (PPP) welcomed the birth of the
Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation with reservations. It proposed
that the funds should be included in the state budget for greater
accountability.

Politicians from Golkar, the ruling party, also gave their
support to the plan aimed at speeding up equal distribution of
the development cake.

But the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) rejected the scheme
on the grounds that any institutions concerning public interests
should be regulated by a law passed by the House, not by a lower
presidential decree.

The PDI also argued that a presidential decree cannot be used
to regulate a private concern.

The foundation was established as a follow-up to Presidential
Decree No. 90/1995 and introduced to the public Monday. It is a
private entity aimed at helping the government alleviate poverty.

Two percent

The decree requires companies and individuals whose after-tax
incomes amount to more than Rp 100 million a year (US$43,470) to
set aside up to 2 percent of their earnings to the state-
sponsored poverty eradication program.

"The spirit (of setting up the foundation) should be backed.
But we want it to be transparent and accessible to public
scrutiny," said Hamzah Haz, chief of the PPP faction in the
House.

He said the PPP has no objection to the foundation managing
the fund so long as it is open to supervisory bodies such as the
House and the Supreme Audit Agency.

House member Aberson Marle Sihaloho of the PDI said his party
is not opposed to the latest move to help the poor but it rejects
the use of the presidential decree as the legal basis.

"The PDI faction demands that the President must revoke his
decree," Aberson told The Jakarta Post.

He pointed out that the Constitution requires any policy
concerning the public's interests to be made in consultation with
the House of Representatives.

What the government should do, he said, is to create a state
foundation which is answerable to the public.

A spokesman for the Golkar faction in the House, Mochamad
Suparni, praised the government's move as a "concrete step to
materialize social solidarity."

"This is an honorable step in the efforts to speed up equal
distribution of the development cake," he said when presenting
the faction's view on the draft of the 1996-97 state budget
Monday.

The Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation is chaired by President
Soeharto in a personal capacity. Tycoons Sudono Salim (Liem Sioe
Liong) and Sudwikatmono and State Minister for
Population/Chairman of the Family Planning Coordination Board
Haryono Suyono are his deputies.

Bambang Trihatmodjo, Soeharto's son, was appointed treasurer
and Anthony Salim, Liem's son, deputy treasurer. Minister of
Cooperatives Subijakto Tjakrawerdaja is the secretary.

The finance minister has yet to issue rulings on technical
details about the implementation of the decree which, informed
sources said, will start in March, the deadline for the filing of
the 1995 income tax returns. (pan)