Many city projects remain unfinished, officials say
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.