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