Mayor's accountability accepted

BOGOR (JP): Local councillors here unanimously accepted on Thursday the annual progress report delivered by Mayor H.R. Iswara Natanegara.

Factions in the legislative council, however, made various recommendations to the mayor for the purpose of improving his administration during the remainder of his tenure.

The council has 12 factions as the result of the 1999 elections.

The largest faction from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), represented by Taufik Kusnun, focused its advice on human resources development. It urged the mayoralty administration to place education at the head of the list of its development priorities and allocate more resources for the sector.

Meanwhile, the Justice Party (PK) faction asked the mayor to be more consistent in undertaking programs that had been determined beforehand. Consistency, the faction said, should also be reflected in budget allocations.

The PK also supported the administration's policy of clearing the streets of traditional three-wheel pedicabs (becak) and illegal street vendors. It said the crackdown should continue in order to ease social problems, such as traffic congestion.

In response to the recommendations, Mayor Iswara promised to take them into account and bring them up at a meeting with his staff in the coming days.(21)