House goes on 2-week vacation

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) went into a two-week recess on Saturday, one week later than originally scheduled because pressing matters, including the need to pass the new tax bills, forced it to work overtime.

In the past week, the House endorsed three bills on amending the tax laws, and ratified the World Trade Organization treaty and an extradition treaty with the Australian government.

A bill on limited companies was also deliberated at length during the season but the House could not complete the reading as it had earlier anticipated.

During the just ended working season, which began on Aug. 16, the House also held preliminary discussions with government ministers about the government's spending plans for the 1995/96 fiscal year which starts on April 1.

The House will resume work on Oct. 31 for more hearings about the government's budget plans.

In his speech to a plenary session on Saturday, Wahono also made a number of observations about the current state of the nation.

The House is very concerned about reports that some companies have obtained subsidized government loans by forging export documents, he said.

He said that this fraud has been taking place because of collusion between business people and government officials and also because of loopholes in the regulations.

The Attorney General's office is now investigating these allegations.

Wahono said the House was also concerned about the impact of skyrocketing cement prices on construction activities and is appealing to producers and retailers to bring the price down.

The House also urged the government to better manage the forest fires which recently occurred in various parts of the country, and suggested involving local people to prevent similar occurrences in the future. (par)