Sorry, no tea, just water at City Hall

JAKARTA (JP): Staff and visitors to City Hall should no longer expect to be served tea and snacks. They are likely to get plain water, if anything at all.

Such office amenities have been removed, along with a host of others as the municipality begins to implement belt-tightening measures.

"We have to be thrifty," Deputy Governor for Economic and Financial Affairs Harun Al Rasyid said yesterday.

"If we had snacks and tea in the past, now plain water should do it," Fauzi said. "The most important thing is to survive the crisis."

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso announced the huge cuts in the administration's spending when he unveiled the city's budget last month.

Fauzi said the cuts mean every rupiah would be used for priority spending. Those with low priority will be postponed.

The administration for example is putting on hold its plan to purchase new staff cars, and is removing access to long-distance telephone lines accorded to senior officials, he said.

Also gone is spending on building equipment.

"We simply can't afford it at the moment."

And there will be no pay increase this year, in line with the central government's policy.

Fauzi assured his staff that there would not be any pay cuts.

A number of municipality projects have been shelved, he said, citing the construction of the new South Jakarta mayoralty office as an example.

Harun Al Rasyid said all city projects costing between Rp 20 billion and Rp 40 billion have been delayed.

"We have no choice but to tighten up on the use of our budget. We will concentrate on projects vital for the welfare of the public," he said. (edt)