Stipend for DPD members annoys House members
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.