Legislators settle in at plush new building

By Emmy Fitri

JAKARTA (JP): When inaugurating the new building for the House of Representatives (DPR) here earlier this year, outgoing speaker Wahono made a point of stating that the Rp 116,07 billion (US$48.4 million) facility was "not an ivory tower".

Instead, he said, "it has been built to help legislators concentrate and be more productive in channeling public aspirations".

Called Lokawirasabha Tama -- meaning the main building for DPR members -- its facilities include an office for each legislator.

The 40-story building stands on 56,502 square meters in the House's complex in Senayan, just behind the old office. Construction started in 1993.

Each legislator has a 24-square-meter room plus a personal secretary whose salary, for the time being, will be the responsibility of the member.

The building was developed by PT Citra Adhi Joint Operation, a joint venture between PT Citra Lamtorogung Persada -- owned by President Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana -- and state-owned construction firm PT Adhi Karya.

Head of the project Suwardjo said that legislators from the 1992-1997 tenure had been entitled to use the office since construction ended in March at the end of the last fiscal year.

The venue has 500 rooms for legislators and seven meeting rooms for the House's commissions.

Suwardjo said the construction of the building was funded from the state budget of four fiscal years from 1993/1994 to 1996/1997.

Information and car calling services, as well as a cafeteria are among amenities on the first floor. Information touch screens are provided on each floor and the parking area can accommodate up to 535 cars. Pay phones in a row of booths on the first floor are easier to locate than in the old building.

Libraries are on the third and fourth floors. Floors five and six are allocated for the United Development Party faction, while Golkar, which swept more than 70 percent of the votes in last May's general election, has the seventh to 17th floors.

Floors 18 to 20 are assigned to the Armed Forces faction, and legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party occupy floors 21 to 22.

Suwardjo said he was uneasy that name signs had yet to be posted on the doors.

"I am sure the new House members will find it difficult to find their rooms because we have not been instructed to replace the old name plates," he said.

He said that before the previous roster of legislators took office, a guidebook had been prepared with all their names, room numbers and telephones.

"We don't have time to prepare that right now," he added. "Some outgoing members of the Armed Forces faction have started to remove their belongings from the new rooms, but we feel it would be unwise to erase their names while they are still coming to the office."

Old building

In the old building called the Lokawirasabha, six to seven legislators shared an office.

"We couldn't even find space for reading," recalled Golkar legislator Effy Z. Rusfian. There was no privacy to meet with guests amid both serious discussions and chatter.

"But we could always tell when someone was absent," she added.

Suwardjo said the old building would be used for special committee meeting rooms and commission secretariats.

The DPR complex was built following late president Sukarno's declaration in 1965 that an international organization of newly independent countries should be established. He wanted the first meeting of the Conference of the New Emerging Forces (Conefo) to be held in Jakarta within a year.

Architects and civil engineers worked overtime to construct the building to the tight deadline. One of the major architects told The Jakarta Post in 1993 that the distinctive shell-shaped roof was devised by accident.

The Conefo plan was later abandoned but the completed building was utilized instead for the House and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The old office complex comprises a venue for plenary sessions with attendance of the President, commission meetings, plenary meetings attended by ministers, the office of the DPR's secretary-general, a health center and an engineering section.