Plan to buy waste trucks postponed

JAKARTA (JP): City administration said on Wednesday it needed to delay a plan to purchase trucks for its sanitary agency and public order office since the funds allocated for the vehicles were used to pay for 55 sedans and five buses for councillors.

City secretary Fauzi Bowo said the administration had planned to use the Rp 10.5 billion (US$1.1 million) in funds from the 2001 city budget to buy 15 minibuses and two Opel Blazer vans for its mayoralties, eight large garbage trucks for the sanitary agency and 10 pickup trucks for the public order office.

"But we'll have to postpone buying them as we need to cover the cost of the 55 Hyundai sedans for councillors and five buses for council," Fauzi said.

He said that the purchase of Hyundai sedans and buses had been allocated in the revised budget last year, but the purchase could only be covered in the current budget.

He said since the 2001 budget did not include the purchase of sedans and buses for city councillors, the payment was proposed in the revised budget, which is being discussed by council members.

"The purchase of sedans was in fact a sudden decision, so we could not allocate the funds last year," Fauzi said. "It's not true that the purchase was mentioned twice in the budget," he added.

Separately, councillor Posman Siahaan questioned the administration's decision to include the purchase of sedans and buses in the current revised budget.

Posman of the Unity and Justice Party claimed that the purchase of vehicles had been well-planned and that it was allocated in last year's revised budget.

"It's not true that we suddenly demanded the sedans and buses," he said.

Each council member received a Hyundai sedan while the chairman, deputy chairmen and faction chairmen used official Toyota Corolla sedans.

The 85 city councillors received Rp 75 million each from the administration just after they were inaugurated in 1999, and the money was supposed to be used for the down payment of their vehicles.

They said the money was used to cover their transportation costs for more than a year as they received the sedans early this year.

Almost all councillors across the country and members of the House of Representatives in the previous term received Rp 75 million each. The money went toward a down payment on a Kijang van, while installments were made from their monthly salary.(jun)