Vehicle maintenance losses reach Rp 7b

JAKARTA (JP): Total loss of funds allocated by the city for the maintenance of official vehicles in the first eight months of this fiscal year was Rp 7 billion (US$933,333), not Rp 16 billion as earlier estimated, an official said.

City secretary Fauzi Bowo said on Tuesday the Rp 7 billion loss was calculated for the maintenance of 6,851 vehicles reported in the budget calculation at the local inspectorate office.

Of the number, he said, 4,416 units were equipped with vehicle ownership documents. Another 1,136 have no ownership documents but possess supporting documents stating they were bought under overseas project funds and overseas aid, he said.

"The remaining 1,304 neither have supporting documents nor the vehicle ownership documents," Fauzi said.

Early this month, more than Rp 16 billion was reported missing from the 1998/1999 city budget due to the practice of marking up the number of vehicles.

Based on the vehicle ownership documents, the number of official vehicles included in the routine expenditure then was 3,873, far below the 6,797 reported in the budget calculation. (ylt)