South Sumatra legislators under fire over trips

Bahrul Ilmi Yakup, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

Trips by South Sumatra legislators that cost Rp 2.5 billion (US$250,000), to a number of provinces has sparked strong criticism from activists and local political observers who said the provincial legislative council had no sense of crisis.

Suharni, a researcher at the Center for Policy Studies and People's Participation (PKKPR) in the provincial capital, said it was not a good time for the provincial legislative council to conduct comparative studies in other provinces as most local people were facing serious economic problems.

"If they really needed information on the progress in other provinces, they could get it through the Internet and mass media. The comparative studies were only an excuse for them to have a picnic and waste the legislature's budget," she said.

All 45 members of the provincial legislative council early this month conducted a series of trips to Bangka-Belitung, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta as part of a comparative study on the progress in the provinces.

Together with a two-week trip to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand last July, the provincial legislative council has spent a total of Rp 2.5 billion for the comparative study program.

Joko Siswanto, a political expert from Sriwijaya University in the city said the legislature should be accountable to the people for the comparative study program.

"Following the two series of trips to a number of provinces, the provincial legislature's performance has not improved and legislators remain insensitive to the poverty of the local people," he said.

Yudi Ardianta, a human rights activist, criticized the trips as a waste of money, saying such programs would make the local people apathetic.

"If the legislators had a sense of crisis, they should ask the provincial administration to reallocate the funds to finance projects for the benefit of the local people," he said.

Iskandar Zulkarnain, secretary-general of the provincial legislature, countered the criticisms, saying the local and foreign trips had been scheduled long before they were conducted and funds used for the two trips had been part of the province's 2000 budget.

"It was impossible for the legislature to cancel the trips because the funds were available," he said, asserting that the trips were expected to strengthen legislators' vision on democracy, law enforcement, legislative rights and economic development.