Stipend for DPD members annoys House members
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although all 128 Regional Representatives Council (DPD) members reside in their respective provinces, the DPD Secretariat has allocated a monthly housing allowance for them to live in Jakarta.
Rahimullah, the DPD and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) secretary general, disclosed on Wednesday that the 128 members will each receive Rp 13.5 million (US$1,450) per month in housing allowance, excluding their monthly salary of around Rp 16 million.
"There is no housing for the DPD members (in Jakarta), but we cover their living cost in the capital," he told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission III for legal affairs in Jakarta.
Article 33 (4) of Law No. 22/2003 states that the DPD members reside in their electoral districts and will stay in Jakarta only to attend meetings.
During their inauguration on Oct. 1, 2004 and the MPR plenary meeting to witness the swearing-in ceremony for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Oct. 20 last year in Jakarta, the DPD members stayed at the five-star Mulia Hotel.
Later from Oct. 21 through Dec. 31, they stayed at the Mercure Apartment in Tomang, West Jakarta.
Despite receiving the housing allowance, the DPD members still demanded permanent secretariats be set up in their respective provinces.
Legislators quickly questioned the fund allocations for the housing allowance as irrational because the DPD members must reside in their respective provinces, not Jakarta.
"The allocation of the fund is questionable. According to the law on composition of the legislative bodies, the DPD members should live in their respective provinces," said Abrab Paproeka of the National Mandate Party (PAN).
Maiyasyak Johan of the United Development Party (PPP) also questioned the legal basis for allocating the budget.
Rahimullah's explanations apparently did not satisfy the legislators who insisted on demanding straight answers. His deputy, Eddie Siregar, vowed that he would soon give clear explanations in written form.
Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Constitutional Court Janedjri M. Ghaffar, who attended Wednesday's hearing, said that his office was planning to build its own office building.
The 14-story building will stand in a 4,220 square meter plot of land near the National Monument in Central Jakarta. It will cost more than Rp 191 billion (US$20.53 million).
"We hope the office building's construction can be finished in early 2006," Janedjri said.
Asked why the court needed its own building, he said the current office building the use now belongs to the Ministry of Communications and Information.
Janedjri further argued he had asked for permission from the State Secretariat to use the office building, which used to house the now-defunct Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), but the request was rejected.
The ex-DPA building would be used as the office of the Presidential Advisory Board, the establishment of which was being discussed, he explained.