Mayor defends Malaysia trip

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