West Javanese leaders have no sense of crisis: Expert
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
An constitutional law expert criticized the West Java administration for allocating a majority of 2002 draft budget expenditure to routine expenditure, saying the local elite, both in the executive and legislative body, had no sense of crisis.
"The draft budget clearly shows that both the governor and the provincial legislative council have no sense of crisis, because they have proposed more funds be allocated to a significant increase in their routine expenditure instead of development programs aimed at helping a majority of local people facing economic hardship caused by the prolonged crisis," Indra Perwira from Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said here on Friday.
According to Indra, Governor R. Nuriana has failed to ascertain the real needs of the local people and does not have a strong commitment to empowering them and improving their welfare.
"Based on his experience in the past, the governor should allocate a larger portion of the draft budget to development programs in the health, education and economic fields," he said, citing that the ideal ratio was a 30 percent allocation to routine expenditure and 70 percent to local development programs.
In the 2002 draft budget submitted to the legislative council early this week, the government proposed to allocate 65 percent, or 1.3 trillion, of the province's Rp 2.1 trillion budget to routine expenditure and the remaining 35 percent to development programs.
The routine expenditure will be used for civil servants's wages and administration operational and maintenance costs, and for the legislative councillor's honorariums and allowances and legislature operational and maintenance costs.
The governor has proposed that the budget for official trips be increased by 30 percent to Rp 42 billion, from the current Rp 30 billion, and a 55 percent maintenance cost increase to Rp 36 billion from this year's Rp 24 billion.
It is quite strange that the governor has allocated only Rp 170 million to finance the poverty eradication program, while 45 percent, or 16 million, of the province's 34 million people are poor.
Indra said that if the legislative council endorsed the draft budget, the social disparity between the local elite and the general public would significantly widen.
"This will certainly disrupt the development of democracy in the province. The public will learn that regional autonomy has not delivered any advantages to their economy and that there is no difference between the former New Order era and the reform era," he said.
He also said it was strange that local nongovernmental organizations, as well as informal and religious leaders, had remained silent over the matter.
"This silence will encourage the legislative council to approve the draft budget," he said.
Reza Nasrullah, a member of the legislative council's Commission on local budget, said the legislative council had proposed an increase in special allowances to Rp 18.7 billion from the Rp 17.5 billion budget in 2001.
"The special allowances consist of telephone and electricity subsidies, a fuel allowance and annual bonuses," he said.
In addition, he said that leaders in the legislature would be given transportation assistance valued at Rp 1 million per month, while legislators would each receive a transportation allowance of Rp 500,000 per month.
The legislature has also proposed an increase of Rp 700 million to the budget for official trips, lifting the expenditure to Rp 5.8 billion from this year's allocation of Rp 5.1 billion.
Yudi Widiana Adia, chairman of the legislature's Commission B on economic and budget affairs, said he was ashamed of the draft budget and would argue for significant changes to be made.
"It is not only a matter of figures but, mainly, of the government's attention to the people," he said.
He called on local NGOs and informal leaders to question the draft budget and demand that the legislative council and provincial administration make major changes.