Take the shirt of your back: Councillors to get Rp 5m for tailors

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung

Though the new West Java legislative council has not yet been installed, the provincial administration has allocated Rp 500 million (US$55,555) for official uniforms for its 100 members.

The money has been earmarked in West Java's 2004 budget drafted by the current council that will end its five-year term later this month, its spokesman Edi S. Holil said on Friday.

The new legislature members, elected in the April 5 elections, are scheduled to be inaugurated early in August.

"There is a total amount of Rp 1 billion allocated for official uniforms for the members of both the old and new councils," Edi said in Bandung, West Java.

He said each councillor would get Rp 5 million for three sets of official uniforms.

Edi claimed the surprisingly large allocation was not excessive, even though it is just for the councillors' official attire, despite the fact that many people find it hard to keep the shirts on their backs amid the economic crisis.

"It's not a luxury, and is within the normal standards," he simply said.

Earlier, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno had rebuked the West Java council for allocating too much money from the 2004 budget for non-urgent activities, including the planned spending on official uniforms.

He suggested that allocations worth more than Rp 20 billion for "unimportant" matters be canceled and diverted to efforts to improve public welfare.

The minister issued Letter No. 903/1253/SJ dated May 26, 2004, detailing other "unimportant" allocations that needed review, including those for a medical scheme worth Rp 1.5 billion, an insurance program worth 1.88 billion and official travel budgeted at more than Rp 7 billion.

Hari said that councillors had the right to be outfitted with official uniforms twice in five years, but added that they needed to maintain decorum and respect the public's sense of justice.

The new West Java council members were told to have their measurements taken on Thursday or Friday by two tailors hired by the legislature's secretariat.

The allocation for the official uniforms has irked local employees who work at the council under various types of contract, including security guards.

One security guard, who declined to be identified, said that it would take him 10 months to earn Rp 5 million.