Governor, council sued for Rp 11b

Governor, council sued for Rp 11b

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court began hearing
on Thursday an action brought by a coalition of nine non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) against the City Council and
governor over the passing of the 2001 city budget.

The nine NGOs grouped in the Coalition of Non-Governmental
Organizations for Budget Transparency (KOTA) alleged that
Governor Sutiyoso had colluded with the council in adopting the
2001 budget which the NGOs claimed only benefited both parties,
but not the people.

KOTA's lawyer Daniel Panjaitan of the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute contended that the passage of the 2001 budget had
inflicted material losses on the plaintiffs as they had to bear
the burden of increased taxes and also fees for the use of public
facilities.

In addition, the passage of the budget caused non-material
losses of Rp 10 billion to the plaintiffs as they had to bear the
"moral burden" and had suffered "great disappointment."

Therefore, they demanded that the city administration and the
City Council be ordered to pay them Rp 11 billion in
damages.(mlt)