West Sumatra councillors to tour region amid protests
West Sumatra councillors to tour region amid protests
Kasparman, The Jakarta Post, Padang, West Sumatra
Despite strong public criticism, all 55 members of the West
Sumatra legislature are to go ahead with their plan to tour three
neighboring countries: Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
West Sumatra Councillors Speaker Arwan Kasri told The Jakarta
Post earlier this week that the trips were working visits
designed to discuss the implementation of regional cooperation
accords.
"We will deal with the follow-ups to cooperation under the
Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle and the Indonesia-
Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle set up a long time ago," Anwar
said.
Some Rp 800 million had been earmarked for the trip.
The councillors are scheduled to leave in batches, the first
being on Sept. 8, second on Sept. 16, and the third on Sept. 24.
Critic Irwan Syofyan criticized the planned trip as a waste of
resources, urging councillors to spend the Rp 800 million budget
the province's poor population.
"It would be wise to spend the money on projects benefiting 54
percent of West Sumatra people now living below the poverty
line," said Syofyan.
He also reminded the councillors to obtain permission from
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, as stipulated in a circular
issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, before embarking on the
trip.
Arwan admitted that he had reported the planned tour to
Minister for Home Affairs Hari Sabarno instead of requesting
permission from the President, and that the councillors would
still depart even if no response was forthcoming from the
minister.
The visit would not only waste a lot of funds but also leave
many legislation issues unresolved, the most urgent being the
amendment of the provincial budget, which must be completed at
the end of September. "This topic at least takes a month to
discuss," said a councillor.
Sources at the provincial council said that during the tours,
foreign entrepreneurs would be invited to invest in the
plantation, tourism and mining sectors, while the realization of
180 memoranda of understanding signed by foreign investors in
West Sumatra would be sought.
Dr. Elwi Dahnil of Andalas University in Padang, slammed the
visit, saying that the pursuit of investments was within the
executive domain.
"It's completely illogical for them (councillors) to invite
investors. To be frank, they only want to have a good time," he
said.
Rusmazar Ruzuar of the West Sumatra Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (Kadin) said the visits to neighboring countries would
be to no avail.
"Investors from neighboring countries once operated here but
their funds were exhausted in the process of procedural
handling," he said.