Holiday mentality blamed for budget delay

Holiday mentality blamed for budget delay

Yongker Rumteh, The Jakarta Post, Manado, North Sulawesi

Three weeks into the new year, the North Sulawesi government is
yet to draft its 2003 budget.

Worse still, the provincial administration is yet to receive
guidelines for the budget from the local legislature.

The delay, which has forced a number of development projects
to be put on hold, has been blamed on legislators failing to
adjust to work after the holiday break.

The head of the North Sulawesi legislature commission for
budget drafting, A.H.J. Purukan, told The Jakarta Post last week
that the delay was triggered by the legislature's failure to
discuss a bylaw on regional financial management, which serves as
a guideline to drafting the budget.

"The legislature has failed to discuss the regional financial
management bylaw as they had a hard time adjusting to work after
a long break," said Purukan, referring to last year's Idul Fitri,
Christmas and New Year holidays.

Purukan said local legislature members were partly to blame
for their inability to endorse the guidelines on time.

"I don't blame the provincial government for not submitting
the budget on time as the guidelines have not yet been discussed
by the legislature."

Separately, the secretary of the legislature's budget
committee, Elizabeth Winokan, agreed with Purukan that local
legislature members were struggling to produce the guidelines for
the budget's drafting.

Though legislative members were also debating draft bylaws on
the management of coastal areas and the development of the
Manado-Bitung bonded zone, the budget guidelines would be
prioritized, she said.

The North Sulawesi government was also struggling to pay
teachers' salaries for this month.

Purukan said the government had as much as Rp 79 billion of
stand-by funds which could be disbursed anytime without approval
from the legislature, including to pay the teachers.

The provincial government, attempting to ease public
discontent, said last week that it would submit the budget draft
immediately.

"The government plans to submit the budget on Jan. 18, and if
it is not approved by the legislature we will use last year's
budget guidelines," an official at the governor's office said.