Proposed fund to fix damaged roads refused

A City Public Works Agency's request for additional funds to repair flood-damaged roads has been rejected by the Jakarta City Council who say the request was not detailed enough and could be manipulated.

"Based on your reports, we don't see any data on roads damaged by the floods," council development affairs deputy Ali Imron Husein said during a hearing with agency officials on Monday.

Head of the agency, IGKG Suena, had said last week that 70 percent of roads in Jakarta were damaged by floods. It was seeking a repair budget of Rp 153 billion (US$14.85 million), up from its usual maintenance figure of Rp 51 billion.

However, a report on Monday, which did not detail the damage, said the agency would need more than Rp 286 billion to repair the damaged roads. It claimed available funds were Rp 210.3 billion and urged the council to approve additional funds of Rp 75.9 billion.

But Imron told the agency officials, led by their deputy Fodly Misbach, to provide a more detailed report on the damage, adding that giving incomplete data could lead to manipulation.

"We hope the agency will present data on the damages in each section of the roads by mentioning the name of the neighborhood units, as well as the subdistricts."

He said for the time being, the agency must use the available funds to repair the damaged roads. -- JP