Rp 13.5b house for governor

Rp 13.5b house for governor

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

At a time when the people of East Nusa Tenggara are still coping
with a food crisis and widespread malnutrition, the provincial
council has approved a proposed a budget of Rp 13.5 billion
(US$1.5 million) to construct a new official residence for the
governor.

The budget is much more than the overall Rp 11 billion set
aside to deal with the food crisis, prolonged drought and
malnutrition in the disadvantaged province, where more than 60
percent of its people are living below the poverty line.

A member of the council's budget committee, Chen Abubakar,
said on Tuesday the governor's official residence would be
constructed over three years, from 2005 to 2008. The house will
be equipped with VVIP guest rooms, tennis courts and a swimming
pool.

He said the council did not object to the proposed budget
considering the present house was no longer fit to live in.

"The 13.5 billion budget will be set aside over three years
from the provincial budget," Chen said.

He said the old house was already in poor shape, with parts of
its roof leaking during the rainy season and some rooms that were
intended for office use could not serve the purpose.

When charged the decision showed the administration and the
council's insensitivity to the many problems experienced by the
people, he played it down, saying they would still give priority
to addressing various problems, especially the prolonged drought,
food crisis and malnutrition.

"The construction of the official house has been planned since
2003," he said.

The provincial administration earlier estimated that more than
30,000 hectares of farmland suffered total crop failure due to
severe drought during the dry season, causing financial losses
estimated at Rp 191 billion (US$20.5 million).

As of June, 45 children in the province's six regencies were
diagnosed with marasmus, while 33,910 were suffering from
malnutrition and 8,218 others were undernourished.

Separately on Tuesday, spokesman for East Nusa Tenggara's
governor, Umbu Saga Anakaka, said the governor's official
residence on Jl. El. Tari, which was built in 1962, looked good
from the outside but on the inside it was falling apart.

He said that with the provincial council's approval, the
construction of the new residence would proceed immediately.
Governor Piet A. Tallo has already moved out of the official
house to his own residence in Oebufu subdistrict, Kupang city.

"Currently, the tender has been announced. The house is being
built because the old house is damaged, not to show off when many
residents are experiencing hard times," Umbu said.