Jakarta's 2001 budget approved amid complaints of corruption
Jakarta's 2001 budget approved amid complaints of corruption
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The City Council accepted on Thursday the 2001 city budget
accountability report, which amounted to Rp 9.09 trillion (around
US$967 million), and approved it despite complaints from several
factions of alleged corruption practices and losses incurred last
year.
The council accepted that Rp 4.7 trillion of the budget was
used for routine expenditures, Rp 2.2 trillion for development
spending and the remaining Rp 2.2 trillion was the budget's
surplus.
Only two factions, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan) -- the largest in the council -- and the
Indonesian Military (TNI)/Police, accepted the budget without any
reservations. PDI Perjuangan has 30 seats in the 84-seat council,
while armed forces have nine.
The remaining nine factions, however, urged the administration
to take further steps to investigate the alleged corruption
practices and losses.
Although many had criticized the budget, their criticisms did
not significantly affect the City Governor Sutiyoso's
accountability speech.
The council's factions, which will state their final stance on
the accountability speech on Friday, were predicted to accept the
accountability through a vote.
The fierce criticisms were delivered on Thursday by the second
largest faction, the National Mandate Party (PAN). The faction,
among other items, alleged corruption practices in a 5.6 hectare
land acquisition deal involving the former brothel area in Kramat
Tunggak, North Jakarta, which caused state losses of Rp 26
billion last year.
The faction, which has 13 seats in the council, also claimed
that the acquisition of a 10.9 hectare site for Bantar Gebang in
East Jakarta caused a loss of Rp 51.46 billion to the country.
PAN also raised questions about the Rp 76.9 billion belonging
to the city-owned developer PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol which was
received from state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga as
compensation for the development of the Tanjung Priok-Pluit toll
road.
The faction also revealed that as many as 4,626 garbage truck
tires were never purchased as called for in the budget last year,
causing Rp 1.15 billion in losses, as well as severely reducing
the efficiency of the city's 800 trash trucks.
"Although not wholeheartedly, our faction would still accept
the budget report," the faction's spokeswoman Syamsidar Siregar
said in the council's plenary session.
Despite accepting the budget, the third largest United
Development Party (PPP) questioned the total losses of Rp 1.6
trillion last year that were incurred from the cooperation
between the administration with two foreign partners PT Pam
Lyonaisse Jaya, a subsidiary of French Lyonaisse des Aux and PT
Thames Pam Jaya, a subsidiary of British Thames Water
International, in tap water management.
The PPP faction also questioned the "disappearance" of a Rp 2
billion fund belonging to city-owned developer BPL Sunter which
received the fund from private developers as compensation for a
"public and social facility".
The tiny Justice Party said it could not even dignify the
budget report with an opinion because of the plethora of alleged
irregularities.
"We could not give an opinion to the budget or even a
disclaimer," the faction's spokesman Mukhayar R.M said.