Sutiyoso pursuing ex-officials' cars

Sutiyoso pursuing ex-officials' cars

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration will shortly issue an
official letter requiring retired officials to return illegally
retained city-owned vehicles, Governor Sutiyoso said on Thursday.

Sutiyoso said the letter was necessary if his subordinates
experienced difficulties reclaiming all vehicles from retired
officials.

"I hope the former officials will voluntarily hand over the
cars to the administration before they are forced to."

He said the administration had adopted a policy forbidding
former officials from retaining city-owned vehicles, even though
an existing regulation allowed them to purchase used vehicles.

A request by former South Jakarta mayor Pardjoko to retain his
official car was denied, said Sutiyoso.

"(The policy) is only temporary because our purchasing ability
is low," he said, without providing further details.

Former officials in North and South Jakarta mayoralties are in
possession of over 45 city vehicles. Data from the other
mayoralties has not been released.

Head of the city supplies office Dadang Ruskandar said on
Thursday that only seven vehicles had not been returned to his
office -- two each from North Jakarta, East Jakarta and Central
Jakarta and one from South Jakarta.

In West Jakarta, all illegally retained vehicles in the
possession of ex-officials had been returned.

"I hope that the issuance of a letter to reclaim the vehicles
will be unnecessary. So far our approach has been successful,"
Dadang said.

Based on a 1998 governor's circular on government vehicles,
retired officials could purchase the cars as long as the vehicles
had been used for official functions for a period of at least
eight consecutive years and there was no shortage of cars in
their former work unit.

City administration policy was to reclaim vehicles from all
mayoralties before the end of 1998/1999 fiscal year on March 31.
The vehicles return was necessary for the administration to make
an accurate appraisal of its assets before formulating the new
budget.

The office had refused several requests by former officials to
keep the vehicles, Dadang said.

Retired officials, in the past, were able to take cars home.
"Our (economic) condition is now far different from before, but
former officials still think that the practice is applicable.

"That is one of our difficulties in reclaiming the vehicles."
(ind)