Geneva villa controversy hits home

Geneva villa controversy hits home

Tony Hotland and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

While the controversial purchase of a plush villa for Indonesia's
ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, does not
appear to have contravened any procedures, politicians and
analysts nevertheless voiced consternation on Wednesday over the
unfortunate timing of the move.

Legislator Djoko Susilo from the House of Representatives'
defense and foreign affairs commission criticized the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs on a number of grounds.

He said the ministry had not provided details of its proposed
spending under the 2004 state budget and failed to inform the
House of the purchase of the property, which is worth 9.6 million
Swiss francs (US$8.7 million).

"The foreign ministry always gives just a short summary of
its proposals and it's always very general in nature. They
didn't mention any plan to buy the villa in their estimates last
year, but I suppose the money was taken from the diplomatic
spending account," he said.

Djoko, also a member of the House budget commission, added
that the commission was also to blame for not strictly
scrutinizing the ministry's budget estimates.

He said the ministry should have paid for the villa by
installment, rather than paying the full price in cash. The
ministry should also have taken into account the tsunami disaster
last December, and the fact that it would people the opportunity
to allege that the money had been diverted from the disaster
relief aid.

"It was unfortunate timing. The ministry said they had to pay
for the house immediately or lose the 500,000 Swiss franc deposit
they had put down. But they should have negotiated to be allowed
to pay it a few months later given the circumstances," said
Djoko.

The government, he added, normally paid by installment when
purchasing property aboard.

The luxurious villa was bought as the official residence for
the Indonesian Ambassador in Geneva, Makarim Wibisono, after it
was decided that the current residence was inadequate for
entertaining guests.

The purchase attracted wide attention from the Swiss media,
which highlighted the inappropriateness of the purchase at a time
when Indonesia was going around cap in hand seeking aid to help
the hundreds of thousands tsunami victims.

Indonesian officials have refuted the claim, saying the
purchase was fully in line with the procedures and that the
property was actually one of the less expensive villas in the
area.

Despite the controversy, the foreign ministry is seeking Rp
175 billion (US$18.4 million) from the 2005 state budget to pay
deposits on 10 new ambassadorial offices, including the
construction of new offices in Geneva.

Also on Wednesday, analysts asked the government to clarify
the circumstances surrounding the purchase of the villa to
prevent the issue being used to tarnish the country's image.

"It's important for the government to quickly clarify the
issue so it that it won't rebound on Indonesia abroad," Dewi
Fortuna Anwar of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)
said.

She agreed that Indonesia's representative needed a permanent
residence in Geneva, which was regarded as being one of the most
strategic diplomatic postings in the world.

Andi Widjajanto from the University of Indonesia's Center for
International Studies agreed with Dewi, but added that the
government would have to explain the benefits of buying such a
costly property.

"The government must explain whether this luxurious residence
will help improve our diplomatic effort in international forums,
like the UN," he said.