`I don't have any faith in the councillors'
The city councillors had planned to hold their 2003 budget meeting in Ciloto Indah Permai Hotel in Puncak, West Java, on Tuesday. But due to objections from the public, the councillors agreed to cancel the meeting and moved to City Hall. The Jakarta Post talked to some city residents about the meeting and their expectations of the budget meeting.
Husein, 46, has been working as a taxi driver for 20 years. He lives in Pesanggrahan, West Jakarta, with his wife and six children:
I don't care for them as I don't have faith in their track record.
They are no longer respected as the representative's of the people since they only represent themselves and their own prosperity.
My ultimate concern is how to survive as a taxi driver here. As a driver, competition is tough now because there are too many taxi companies operating in the city.
People say that Governor Sutiyoso owns one of the taxi companies. He is already so rich. Why he is so greedy that he wants to make more money by pushing aside the people like me who earn so little.
I only wish that the city councillors and the governor would pay attention to this situation.
Samidi, 47, works as a security officer at a government ministry. He resides in Depok with his wife and three children:
Frankly speaking, I don't think I can give a positive comment on the City Councillors decision to cancel their meeting in Puncak and move to City Hall.
I wonder why they have to hold such a meeting in Puncak when they have an appropriate place at City Hall.
There is no logical reason for it. The only thing that comes to mind is suspicion. They planned to hold the meeting at the hotel because they want to corrupt the budget itself.
I don't believe that what they talk about is in the interests of the public. They just think about how to enrich themselves. Corruption is so rampant now that public protests are just meaningless. During the administration of president Soekarno, corruption was all done under the table. During Soeharto's regime it was done on the table. During Megawati's era it's worse as even the table itself is taken.
The people's representatives always talk nonsense and they're only interested in money and power. It's the same with the city councillors.
I don't have any hopes at all in them. I don't believe that they are on the side of the people.
Cecep, 64, is an employee at a pan manufacturer in Tangerang. He resides in Kampung Rambutan, East Jakarta with his wife and six children:
What kind of meeting is that, that it has to be held at a hotel in Puncak? Thankfully the councillors finally made up their mind to move the meeting to City Hall on Wednesday.
If they held the meeting in Puncak, they would just take the opportunity to mark up the budget.
It would be better to allocate that budget for helping the poor city residents or financing other urgent programs in Jakarta. The issue actually is much more urgent than the budget meeting.
I just hope there will be serious concrete actions from the city government to address the problem of the poverty here. Hopefully, they will be wise enough to allocate a proper budget to deal with it.
Dio, 40, works in a supermarket in South Jakarta. He resides in Tangerang with his wife and son:
If the budget meeting was held in Puncak, it would be just another way to waste public money.
If it proceeded, the city councillors would only take advantage of the occasion for their own benefit.
It is a well-known fact that high ranking officials only make use of the marked-up budget for "official"' activities such as meetings.
The avaricious high-ranking officials tend to make extra money from the official budget.
However, the cancellation of the budget meeting and decision to move to the City Hall is a good step. Otherwise, their plan to lavish money on the meeting would only enrage the public particularly in such unfavorable economic conditions.
But I regret to say that it's hard for me to have any hopes in the budget meeting. The councillors lack public accountability.
-- Leo Wahyudi S.