Rp 235b sprnt on development

BOGOR: Mayor Iswara Natanegara proposed a budget review on Tuesday, allocating Rp 235 billion (US$27 million to human development programs.

Iswara claimed that the Rp 235 billion, or 70 percent of the city budget, which would total Rp 319 billion this year, would raise the level of achievement in the human development index.

"The funds will be used to finance several programs, including education, health, development of the local economy and poverty alleviation," he told a plenary session at Bogor Council.

He said the funds would also be used to develop transportation in an effort to reduce traffic jams, housing infrastructure for the poor and improvements to sanitation and garbage collection in the city.

The Bogor municipality has allocated the Rp 319 billion to programs on education (Rp 109 billion), health (Rp 15 billion), local economic development (Rp 16 billion) and poverty alleviation (Rp 12 billion).

It also allocates Rp 24 billion to transportation, Rp 19 billion to sanitation and Rp 10 billion to housing infrastructure.

The Rp 319 billion revenue, increased from an earlier target of Rp 302 billion, will come mostly from city taxes of Rp 33.5 billion and central government redistributed income of Rp 265 billion. -- Antara