Poll preparations lacking in some areas: Reports

JAKARTA (JP): Three days before the polls, reports of lacking preparations continue to flow in from across the country.

Meanwhile the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced it would meet President B.J. Habibie Friday to report final preparations together with the National Elections Committee and the Election Supervisory Committee. Latest developments in Aceh and other volatile areas will be discussed with the president, KPU spokesman Djohermansyah Djohan said Thursday.

In Irian Jaya, election officials said they needed about Rp 3 billion to cover the cost of sending and picking up ballot papers from the 3,076 polling stations in 12 regencies and one township. The costs were mainly for transportation by air and sea. Of the 173 districts, more than 100 are inaccessible by land transport.

The secretary of the Provincial Elections Committee, Soekarli, told The Jakarta Post that to rent airplanes cost US$750 per hour. One hundred hours was needed to cover the province in four days by air, he said, which would come to US$75,000 (about Rp 712 million).

For sea transport, Soekarli said Rp 1.5 billion was needed to cover the regencies of Jayapura, Biak, Numfor, Yapen Waropen, Naire, Manokwari, Sorong, Fakfak, Mimika and Merauke.

From Palu, Central Sulawesi, Antara reported that neighborhood, village and district poll officials have rejected funds offered by the Palu mayoralty election committee, saying the money would not be able to cover the cost of building the 318 polling booths required.

Following protests, the earlier sum of Rp 60,000 was raised by Rp 20,000. But the officials said that with such an amount of money they refused to be responsible for building the polling booths, saying one polling station required at least Rp 250,000.

Dayat, a neighborhood committee member from East Palu, said one plank of plywood cost Rp 23,500; one sheet of corrugated roofing iron cost Rp 18,500 and the cheapest timber was Rp 12,500 per length.

The head of the social political office at the administration, A. Syuaib, said he would take up the issue with Mayor Rully Lamadjido. He said he was aware the funds were far from enough but that this was in line with the earlier agreed allotment.

In Jakarta a member of the Senen poll committee in Central Jakarta, A. Hamid, said as of Thursday night, ballot paper pads, ink to replace the inferior type and the list of the poll witnesses had not arrived as scheduled.

"Some of the covers of the ballot boxes are broken," he added.

A member of the Kwitang poll committee in Central Jakarta. Muhammad Jafar Anwar, said he was not sure if officials were ready to execute the "complicated" procedures of the poll as they had only once received a briefing from a district official.

Separately the coordinator for ballot counting said the public can monitor the tallying through the hotlines of 031-663-2100 for Surabaya, 021-2149-1900 for Jakarta, and the premium call hotline of 0809-1-070699. The latter is charged Rp 1,000 per minute, Dana Dharsono said. (34/anr/49/ida/edt)