'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.