North Sumatra officials take 'vacation' in India: Councillor

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

A team of about 50 provincial officials from North Sumatra left for a seven-day trip to India on Friday to attend an international expo which will cost taxpayers over Rp 1 billion (US$120,000).

North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin said over the weekend that the team went to India with the mission to open up business links with various sectors in that country.

The governor said that the trip was necessary as Indonesia and India shared many similarities, as both were developing countries with enormous populations.

"That's why we're sending a so many people ... to open up business opportunities in various sectors," Rizal Nurdin said.

He denied suggestions that the officials were going to India for a free holiday using public money. All expenses were covered by the North Sumatra government, drawn from the governor's contingency fund.

Led by Deputy Governor Lundu Panjaitan, the team comprised regents, mayors, businesspeople, legislature members and academic representatives.

The officials said they planned to offer local products that were in high demand in India, such as crude palm oil, coffee and areca nuts.

The trip was originally scheduled for last week, but Nurdin delayed it as the governor considered it slightly poor timing to be spending such a huge amount of money while the rest of the country was angrily protesting against increases in electricity and telephone charges and fuel prices.

But the governor decided to send the team anyway, even though protests against the price hikes had not abated.

Hitler Siahaan, spokesperson for Commission III at the local legislature, criticized the governor's decision to send the team at such a time.

"Although the main purpose of the travel is officially said to be to attend an International Expo in India, it still is just a vacation," he said.

Considering the number of team members, Hitler deemed the whole trip as waste of money. According to him, the provincial administration should have sent only a couple of officials who were directly involved in promoting business cooperation.

"State funds should not be wasted on a vacation project to India, it would be better if the governor's contingency fund was used for people's education and health," Hitler said.