Weak control over Jakarta budget

Weak control over Jakarta budget

From Warta Kota

In the last few days Warta Kota has published its coverage of the draft budget of the Jakarta administration. This coverage has opened my eyes to how we, the people, have been arbitrarily treated by the executive power.

Regional administration officials, for example, can freely devise fictitious budget items for their own benefit, which could escape the people's attention but for the media coverage.

This fraud must have been in practice since the previous order but at that time escaped scrutiny as the mass media were not free to expose it.

It is time, therefore, for the City Council to launch a campaign to improve their image. This is a good opportunity for the City Council, which has earned strong criticism in the past for receiving money from the Jaya Ancol Dream Land management, to be more accountable to the people. One way to do this is to take the initiative and draft a regional regulation which will narrow the chance of committing such irregularities.

Let me propose that the City Council should draft a regulation requiring the executive body to announce/advertise its draft budget in print and electronic media long before it is discussed in the council. The advertising cost must less than the potential budget item to be siphoned off.

Then the officials responsible for the drawing up of this regional budget must be required to discuss it with university academics or non-government organizations dealing with urban matters. This will enable the executive body to receive outside input and at the same time be subject to a tighter control.

Of course clear and proportional sanctions must be introduced or otherwise this regulation will go unheeded.

Apart from the control to be exercised prior to the approval of the regional budget, a tight control must also be exercised upon budget accountability. To achieve this another regulation should be implemented that requires the governor and his ranks to account for what they have done and this should also be made available to the public.

HERRY SIAHAAN

Jakarta