Megawati spends $22.8m on overseas trips: PIB

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Having been in office for a year, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has spent a staggering US$22.8 million on overseas trips, according to a finding revealed by the Alliance for New Indonesia (PIB).

PIB chairman Sjahrir said such a sum was spent on presidential visits to the U.S., European countries, Southeast Asian countries, China, North Korea, India and others.

"Such extravagant expenditure is clear evidence that the Megawati government has no sense of crisis," economist Sjahrir told a media conference on Monday.

The conference was aimed at assessing President Megawati's first-year performance, from both political and economic perspectives.

According to PIB, the data on Megawati's foreign trips was obtained through media research and informal interviews, including those with officials close to the President.

The total cost of Megawati's foreign trips was calculated on the basis of expenditure on accommodation, transportation and travel allowances for Megawati's entourage, including a group of journalists.

"As there was some data that we could not obtain, in the end, we simply made estimates," Sjahrir said, adding that, for example, an estimate was made of the total amount spent on hotel accommodation.

The difficulties were caused by a lack of government transparency in publishing in detail the cost of overseas trips, said Sjahrir.

"Despite possible inaccuracies, the total spent by the Megawati administration will show the public that this government has spent public money lavishly on overseas trips," said Sjahrir.

According to PIB findings, Megawati and her entourage spent $2.3 million on hotel accommodation and $12.8 million on transportation costs, including the charter costs of a Boeing 737-400 and Airbus A-330.

In addition, a total of US$6.6 million was spent on allowances for entourage members.

According to PIB findings, the government spent a total of US$1 million on the security force to guard Megawati during her several-hour visit to East Timor to witness the country's independence ceremony this year.

Expenditure for this high-profile visit included the cost of deploying six warships and 2,000 soldiers.

"In total, the overall sum spent by the Megawati government on overseas trips amounted to US$22.8 million," said Sjahrir.

PIB, a loose alliance of middle-class politicians and economists, is scheduled to become a political party by Sept. 23 this year.