Legislators settle in at plush new building

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.