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)