Yogyakarta plans to use rental cars

Yogyakarta plans to use rental cars

YOGYAKARTA: As a way of promoting efficiency in the new era of
regional autonomy, the Yogyakarta provincial administration plans
to use rental cars, Governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono X said.

"We are calculating whether using rental cars is more
efficient than buying official cars, because under regional
autonomy the provincial administration will no longer get a
subsidy from the central government to purchase officials cars
and to cover their maintenance," he said here on Tuesday.

The governor declined to mention the number of cars needed by
the provincial administration or how much the administration
spent annually on their maintenance.

He did say that it would be a financial burden should the
provincial administration have to continue covering the
maintenance costs for the cars.

"With rental cars, we just have to return them to
the owners when there are maintenance problems. Then we will get
replacement vehicles from the same owners in exchange," he said.

The maintenance costs reportedly are high because numerous
official cars frequently are used by local officials' for
personal purposes.

"Besides, each month we have to pay more than 5,000 civil
servants employed in numerous government departments' local
offices," he added. --JP