Poll preparations lacking in some areas: Reports

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)