Transparency on govt firms' data called for

JAKARTA (JP): A member of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction of the City Council urged the municipal administration on Saturday to make a full disclosure of city- owned companies' profits.

Faction chairman Lukman F. Mokoginta told reporters he had made the call for transparency because the government had not provided data on the companies' profits for the past few years on the ground that the enterprises were still being audited by the government audit agency.

In the ordinary course, reports on the companies' profits should be provided to the governor at a plenary session with members of the City Council.

The plenary session usually discusses various aspects of the city's draft budget for the next fiscal year.

This year's session is scheduled to be held today.

Even though the audits have been completed, the city administration has repeatedly "forgotten" to provide the City Council, Lukman said.

"This happens every year and will likely continue, so that the City Council never knows about the real state of the companies overseen by the city administration.

"We do need the information on the companies' audited profits to help in drafting the following year's budget," he said. (32)