Mayor defends Malaysia trip

BOGOR: Bogor mayor Diani Budiarto on Saturday defended his recent visit to Kucing, Malaysia, saying that it was done to learn about the country's health programs.

He also said that the "comparative study" trip was fully financed by the Ministry of Health, using funds from the 2005 State Budget.

"The Ministry of Health appointed the Bogor Municipality to materialize Bogor Healthy 2006 and Indonesia Healthy 2010 programs," Diani was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday.

"We learned a lot from the study trip; Kucing has successfully implemented its health programs," he said without elaborating.

The mayor has come under fire recently following his recent trip to Kucing.

Critics said that the visit was a waste of money due to the large number of officials joining the trip, with all heads of agencies and district heads in the Bogor Municipality being invited to go. --JP