'Use of 'Pajero' was only suggestion'
'Use of 'Pajero' was only suggestion'
JAKARTA (JP): A memorandum from a governor that regents should use the Rp 185-million (US$81,600) Mitsubishi Pajero for their official duties was only a suggestion, not an instruction, former minister of home affairs Rudini said yesterday.
"I trust that the memorandum was only a recommendation," Rudini said. "The suggestion must have been based on the condition of the local terrain."
The Governor may have also considered the dealer's offer of a discount on the market price of Rp 165 million (US$70,694.09), he added.
Rudini was responding to criticisms of expensive public servants' perks.
On Tuesday students in South Sulawesi met with Governor Z.B. Palaguna. During the meeting, the students questioned a memo circulated by the governor which, they said, stated that the province's 23 regents should use the Mitsubishi Pajero vehicle.
The Kompas daily quoted four South Sulawesi regents yesterday as saying that Pajeros are most suitable for the rough terrain.
"If we can't use a sedan or a Kijang (Toyota Kijang van), should we use a horse?" asked one regent.
Sumitro Maskun, the director general of public administration and regional autonomy under the Ministry of Home Affairs, said on Wednesday that even a Rp 85-million Trooper vehicle is too expensive for him.
He said he will check the reports with the South Sulawesi secretariat under the Ministry.
Plans for a Rp 7 billion official residence and guest house for the Central Java governor have also raised an uproar recently.
Sumitro and State Minister of National Development Ginandjar Kartasasmita have both said the Central Java council should be more critical about such use of funds.
The latest perk to come to the public's attention is a Rp 1.2 billion swimming pool for the housing complex of regency officials in Bekasi, West Java.
One resident has claimed that that sum of money could buy more than 200 low-cost homes.
Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S. Memed is yet to comment on the matter. (anr)