Many city projects remain unfinished, officials say

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 15 percent of last year's Rp 11.56 trillion (US$1.27 million) city budget was not absorbed by the administration due to the widespread practice of collusion, corruption and nepotism allegedly committed by city officials.

The assistant to the City Secretary for Development Affairs, IGKG Suena, said over the weekend that unresolved disputes on city project tenders, combined with strong allegations of corruption, had slowed several development projects.

He said many of the city's top officials in charge of the projects were reluctant to make decisions or take actions in fear of being implicated in graft allegations.

"Interrogations into graft allegations by the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office regarding some officials have caused their performances to drop significantly," he said.

The latest questioning is in regards an alleged markup in the procurement of buses for the busway project. The case is now being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission.

As of April, the administration had spent only 60 percent of its Rp 2.24 trillion (US$263.53 million) development budget allocated for infrastructure projects.

This year's city budget is Rp 12.731 trillion.

Governor Sutiyoso said earlier his administration would prioritize several stalled projects under the draft 2005 budget, which is set for about Rp 13 million.

Among the projects are: land acquisition for the East Flood Canal, completion of overpasses and underpasses, low-cost apartments for the poor and waste management.

The land acquisition for the canal project hit a serious snag when landowners demanded higher compensation than that proposed by the administration. The Rp 4.9 trillion canal is to help control five rivers in the eastern part of the city to ease annual flooding.

The completion of planned overpasses and underpasses is another priority since the city, with the help of the central government, plans to build 17 overpasses and underpasses between 2002 and 2007.

The administration will allocate about 20 percent of the draft 2005 budget on these projects.

"Jakarta needs between Rp 30 trillion and Rp 50 trillion from the budget to complete all unfinished projects," Sutiyoso said.

In an effort to procure more tax-based revenue from the government, the administration has submitted data on taxpayers to the tax office.

The data will be synchronized by the tax office to collect more revenue. Director General of Taxation Hadi Purnomo promised that the administration would get at least twice its current share of revenue drawn from Rp 4.7 trillion in taxes.