House goes on 2-week vacation

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)