'House must control govt budget'

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Amid the current weak condition of state finances, it is the House of Representatives that ought to be playing the crucial role in making sure that all government spending plans are proportional, legislators have said.

Aside from enacting laws and monitoring the government, the House also has power over disbursement of state funds.

This role needs to be urgently filled as the government is struggling to cover higher expenditures due to rocketing fuel subsidies and health service costs, while allocating little to education and poverty eradication programs.

The nation's weak financial condition also became a stumbling block for recently proposed increases in allowances for House members.

Such a role has become essential, they said, most importantly to minimize corruption and ineffective spending in all government ministries and institutions.

"Rather than solving the problems later on after corruption has taken place, it's better to prevent it. All funds for the government must go through deliberation with the House first, and this is where we must come in comprehensively," said legislator Suryama M. Sastra.

Ministries have to consult with House commissions about their proposed budgets before seeking approval from the House budgetary committee. All these discussions, however, are closed to the public.

On many occasions, ministries do not detail items in their proposals, leaving the execution of programs prone to abuse in the forms of different or overlapping allocations, as well as corruption.

"It's called the devil in the detail, and House commissions are also part of this problem. All House members must use their rights to request details from their executive partners," said Suryama, who sits on the House domestic affairs body.

This was where the provision of expert staff for House members became crucial because most of them have little knowledge of accounting and budget formulation, he said.

"We have some 200 advisory employees here to assist all 11 House commissions, 10 factions, working committees and House leadership. Is it adequate? We're not even sure about their qualifications," said Suryama.

Regarding closed-door sessions, he said they should be open to public most of the time if the House wished to show its goodwill in allowing public participation.

Similar comments were also raised by House budgetary committee deputy Bursah Zarnubi, who said that many procurements by government institutions could actually be downsized and made more efficient.

"I did a little research and found that mark-ups -- up to eight times -- and inefficiency are common. Procedures for procuring goods are complicated to allow ministries to directly appoint firms. Sometimes, they process it too late so they have to pay extra money because of the immediate need," said Bursah.

"Another example, I just found out that the House secretariat general rents a pot of flowers for Rp 30,000 (some US$3) every month. How ridiculous is that?" he said.

Bursah said the government needed to issue a regulation to ensure efficiency if it wanted to pursue a sound and efficient budget.

Vocal legislator Djoko Susilo said the government, as well as House members, should be able to slash many expenses.

"Why not fly economy class? Why not minimize entourages during trips? Why not stay in less expensive hotels? Why not take back unnecessary representatives abroad, which cost us billions of rupiah monthly?" he argued.