Gubernatorial meals stipend increases to Rp 1.1b

Gubernatorial meals stipend increases to Rp 1.1b

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The food and beverage allowance for the West Java governor and
deputy governor for fiscal year 2005 has been increased by more
than 60 percent to Rp 1.138 billion (US$126,450).

The budget allocated for that same purpose last year was Rp
701 million. The increase in the allocation has been roundly
criticized by the public as well as members of the West Java
legislature, which has to approve the provincial budget.

The "refreshments" allowance allocated to Governor Danny
Setiawan and his deputy, Nu'man Abdul Hakim, is made up of three
items -- Rp 432.5 million for daily meals and refreshments, Rp
296.4 million for refreshments during meetings and Rp 410.6
million for entertaining guests. The allocation for daily meals,
for example, amounts to Rp 1.6 million per day if divided by 260
working days per year.

The daily meals allowance is equivalent to four months average
income per capita as based on a survey in 2004, the average
monthly income per capita in West Java was Rp 408,260, although
many subsist on less than this.

A Kiaracondong resident, Mimin Munaroh, 30, said that she was
only given Rp 5,000 per day by her husband to feed him and her
two children. Her husband works as a school caretaker.

"It would be great to have Rp 1.6 million a day to spend. It
would be enough to eat like a king, and pay for my children's
school fees and our electricity bills for five years," she said
when asked for her opinion on the governor's meals allowance.

West Java councillor Abdul Muis, from the National Awakening
faction, seemed surprised when reporters showed him the details
of the meals budget.

"It's so disheartening when there are still nine million poor
people that there can be allowances this high," he said.

Muis, a member of the provincial legislature's Commission A on
governmental and legal affairs, deemed the budget "irrational"
and promised to immediately look into the matter via the
legislature's budget committee.

None of the members of the budget committee were available for
comment as they were conducting comparative studies in Surabaya.

Head of the household bureau at the gubernatorial office, Daud
Achmad, said that meals allowances were raised annually in
accordance with anticipated increases in inflation.

The estimate was usually submitted by the household bureau to
the general affairs bureau, which then forwarded it to the budget
committee. It was then discussed jointly by the provincial
administration and the legislative council for subsequent
approval by the legislature.

"Don't get me wrong. It's not necessary to spend all the
money. It's preferable to ask for more money at the beginning of
the year rather than being left without enough money near the end
of the year when the governor has a lot of guests to entertain,"
he said.

West Java provincial administration spokesman Yanto Subiyanto
said that the increase in the allowance was connected with the
Asia-Africa Conference golden jubilee ceremonies, which would be
held in Bandung this year.

"Doesn't the governor have to entertain many state guests
during the event? The cost will obviously be high," he said.

Besides that, he said that the meals allowance also included
meals for gardeners, municipal police personnel and kitchen staff
working for the governor and deputy governor.