'Transferred funds' for NGOs prone to pilfering
'Transferred funds' for NGOs prone to pilfering
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Councillors have urged the Jakarta administration to monitor the
allocation of funds for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
other institutions in the city, which will amount to Rp 1.24
trillion (US$124 million) in next year's budget.
The administration allocated around Rp 700 billion for similar
purposes this year.
During budget deliberations by Commission A for administrative
and legal affairs on Tuesday, the councillors deemed that such
funds were prone to misuse because the administration did not
have the mechanism to monitor how the recipients used the money.
"Therefore, to save taxpayers' money, we will cut 30 percent
from the proposed allocation," commission chairman Achmad Suaidy
said.
City budget funding for NGOs and other organizations is also
referred to as "transferred funds" because the funds are
transferred by the city secretary to the recipients' bank
accounts. The amounts range from Rp 10 million to Rp 230 billion
for each recipient.
Organizations that receive the funds include the city police,
the Jakarta Military Command, district courts, prosecutor's
offices, Jakarta Legal Aid (LBH Jakarta), the Betawi Association
(Bamus Betawi), the Jakarta branch of the National Youth
Committee (KNPI Jakarta) and religious organizations.
Funds are also allocated for the TransJakarta busway company,
the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD), the Jakarta
Narcotics Agency (BN Jakarta), the Jakarta branch of the National
Sports Committee (KONI) and Jakarta soccer team Persija.
In the proposed 2006 budget, TransJakarta will receive Rp 230
billion, KONI Jakarta Rp 40 billion, BN Jakarta Rp 27.47 billion
and KPU Jakarta Rp 27 billion.
Councillor Vike Verry Ponto said that in the future, the city
administration and the commission would set criteria for NGO and
institution eligibility for the funds.
"The City Council has to know what the funds are for because
we are responsible for every single rupiah taken from the
budget," said Vike, who is from the Democratic Party.
Sharing Suaidy's opinion, Vike also said that the funds could
easily be misused.
Vike added that the corruption case involving the chairman,
treasurer and another member of KPU Jakarta was one example of
how the administration did not have the mechanism to monitor such
funds.
The three suspects, who stand accused of misusing Rp 9 billion
of city budget funds for election preparations last year, are
standing trial at the South Jakarta District Court. It was
Commission A that found the irregularities in the elections
commission's financial report early this year.
Suaidy said the representatives of recipients of the funds
would be summoned for a hearing on the establishment of effective
monitoring of the use of the funds.