Sutiyoso's accountability weak: Councillors

Sutiyoso's accountability weak: Councillors

Ahmad Junaidi
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

City councillors viewed Governor Sutiyoso's accountability
speech for the 2001 City Budget, which was delivered on Thursday,
to be weak and an attempt to hide his failures.

As predicted, Sutiyoso neglected to mention his
administration's failure to prevent the massive floods which hit
the city in January and February this year, or the garbage
management issue.

Speaking after the council's plenary session, many of the
councillors said they would likely reject the speech while others
said they preferred to discuss it amongst their party factions
before deciding on an official stance.

"I personally will recommend that my faction reject the
speech," Councillor Dani Anwar of the Justice Party (PK) said.

Dani accused Sutiyoso of violating a regulation which bans him
from becoming the president commissioner of city-owned market
operator PD Pasar Jaya.

He said Sutiyoso claimed in his accountability speech that he
and the deputy governors relinquished their posts from city-owned
firms last year.

"That's simply not true. I know that, as of the end of 2001,
he was still the (PD Pasar Jaya) president commissioner," said
Dani, who is also the secretary of Council Commission B for
Economic Affairs.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) also expressed their
inclination to reject Sutiyoso's accountability speech based on
his failures on several fronts, especially garbage management.

"How can he exclude the most important issue -- the Bantar
Gebang garbage dump management -- from his accountability
speech?" PAN's faction chairman M. Nadjamudin asked.

He also asserted that Sutiyoso's administration was especially
weak with regard to public order and public service.

The city suffered "losses" of Rp 14 billion in compensation
which was paid to the Bekasi mayoralty for the reopening of
Jakarta's main dump in Bantar Gebang.

Bekasi closed the 104-hectare dump, located in three villages
of the municipality, last December and reopened it a week after a
series of negotiations.

The council's largest faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) refused to give a clear indication
of their stance after the speech, but admitted to being
disappointed.

"Sutiyoso only discussed the 'sweet things'. There are many
problems in the capital but he has failed to explain them," the
faction's secretary M. Nakum AR said.

The United Development Party (PPP) councillor Syarief
Zulkarnaen said Sutiyoso's claim that the city-owned firms'
contribution had improved was untrue.

"The firms only contributed 0.37 percent to the city's
revenue. They are still in a poor state," he said.

Only the Golkar Party faction declared the governor's speech
adequate.

"It's good enough, although he still needs to give more
details," Golkar faction chairman Ade Surapriatna said.

The council's 11 factions -- comprised of 85 councillors, 30
from PDI Perjuangan, 13 from PPP, 13 from PAN, eight from Golkar,
four from PK and the remaining seven from other parties -- will
each give the accountability speech a thumbs up or a thumbs down
on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, outside the building on Jl. Kebon Sirih, hundreds
of Sutiyoso's supporters called the Betawi Brotherhood Forum
(FBR), reacted with violence when they arrived and mistook the
Jakarta People's Alliance (AMJ), who were already on-site in
support of the governor, for being anti-Sutiyoso.

Two members of AMJ were injured in the senseless melee.

AMJ's coordinator, Syarief, claimed that the incident was
merely a misunderstanding as neither side was apparently aware
that they were supposed to be in support of Sutiyoso.