Reconstruction agency under fire

Reconstruction agency under fire

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Criticism is gathering against the powerful Aceh Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) two months after it began the
massive project of rebuilding the tsunami-affected province.

The Anti-Corruption Movement (GeRAK) said on Tuesday the
agency spent too much money on salaries for its 100 executives
and staff members, while allocating very little to help those
people affected by the disaster.

The agency's budget has been set at Rp 1.1 trillion (US$110
million), with Rp 371.65 billion earmarked to pay the agency's
employees.

That is more than double the Rp 145.83 billion set aside as
allowances for about 574,000 people displaced by the Dec. 26
tsunami.

"This means inefficiency in the agency's spending. The agency
should have a sense of crisis and show its concern for the
people's suffering," GeRAK chairman Akhiruddin Mahyuddin said on
Tuesday.

Akhiruddin expressed doubt the government's efforts to help
the people of Aceh overcome the impact of the tsunami would be
successful because of the privileges enjoyed by the agency,
coupled with programs that failed to benefit the people directly.

"I know the BRR has organized vocational training, sports
competitions, a course for coaches, but these do not help the
people enough.

"The BRR controls an excessive amount of fund, although it is
just a new agency. The way it spends the money is in stark
contrast to the fact that many people here are still in need of
assistance to survive," Akhiruddin said.

He also called on the agency to make public its expenditures,
including the salaries of its employees.

A spokesman for the agency, Widjajanto, denied the agency was
spending too much on salaries.

He said the agency was only managing Rp 74 billion of the
budget for routine expenditures. The bulk of the money will go to
regional agencies involved in reconstruction projects.

"We control less than Rp 74 billion because the money is
subject to a 15 percent value added tax," Widjajanto said.