Observers advise city to prioritize SMEs and housing

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Urban observers advised the Jakarta Administration to put a higher priority for the 2004 city budget spending on small- and medium-sized enterprises and other important sectors, particularly public housing.

They said it was necessary to emphasize the areas that affect the working class, thereby avoiding a repeat of this year's meager spending which was evidence of the administration's failure to organize and implement well-planned development programs.

Muhammad Suhud, an executive of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID), told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the administration must pay more attention to the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) as they had contributed significantly to the capital's economic development during the economic crisis that hit the country in 1997.

"With its Rp 12.16 trillion (US$1.43 billion) budget next year, the administration should give serious attention to street vendors, for example, by designating certain places for them," he said. "Instead of evicting them, the city must accommodate them."

Wicaksono Sarosa of the Urban and Regional Development Institute (URDI) urged the administration to prioritize important sectors like public housing for low-income families in the city.

He said the administration could easily address the housing problem with its Rp 12.16 trillion budget by cutting out many less significant projects from the budget.

Wicaksono pointed out that the administration must provide permanent shelter for the recent string of eviction victims.

Both Suhud and Wicaksono were commenting on the administration's spending this year. They called on the administration and the council to learn how to control the implementation of next year's city budget so that they could increase agency spending.

"If the administration had planned the projects well, the implementation would not be so far behind schedule," Suhud said.

Wicaksono stressed that the meager budget spending indicated the administration's poor performance.

The city administration has proposed Rp 12.16 trillion for the 2004 city budget or a 10.68 percent increase from this year's Rp 11.563 trillion.

However, the administration only managed to spend 41.50 percent as of Sept. 30, as most development projects were stalled or never implemented.

The administration has estimated that the unused portion of the 2003 budget would reach some Rp 2.223 trillion.

The major spending of the budget has come from periodic spending of 52.75 percent while activities spending was only 34.38 percent.

Suhud warned the administration and the council that if they failed to make better plans, and then carry them out, the 2004 budget would experience a similar fate to this year's.

"It means the administration will have failed again in managing the taxpayers' money for projects that help people prosper," he said.