West Javanese leaders have no sense of crisis: Expert

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.