W. Java councillors drop bid for cars

W. Java councillors drop bid for cars

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Controversy over the proposed new cars for the West Java
Legislative Council's leaders went on, with council speaker AM
Ruslan saying on Tuesday he had called off the proposal.

Ruslan said he had submitted a letter to postpone the purchase
of the new cars to Governor Danny Setiawan early this month. But
Danny said on Tuesday the administration had not received any
such letter from the council.

"(If the proposal is to be postponed) it should be directly
submitted to the budget committee which oversees the amended 2005
budget, not to me," he said.

Ruslan claimed the council leaders requested new official cars
since their current cars were old while the administration's
executives drove new models. He cited that Deputy Governor Nu'man
Abdul Hakim has a Camry sedan for an official car while Ruslan
drives a 2000 Toyota Crown.

The council speaker reportedly had requested a Toyota Camry
3.0 while his three deputies asked for Toyota Camry 2.4s. The
proposal had been included in the amended 2005 West Java
provincial budget.

Ruslan denied reports that only the council leaders had
requested new cars, saying that all chairmen of the council's
five commissions had made a similar proposal.

A source from the council's budget committee cited that Rp 4.4
billion had been proposed in the budget to replace official cars
of the council leaders and commission chairmen.

Ruslan said he decided to withdraw the proposal after
consulting the budget committee. The proposal, he said, will be
resubmitted when the budget allows it.

Council deputy chairman Rudy Harsa Tanaya claimed that he was
against the plan from the start.

"After looking at the people's economic situation, we should
not request for new cars until our term ends in 2009. I'm lucky
to be able to drive a Mitsubishi Gallant, besides, it's still in
good condition," Rudy said.