Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Jakarta | Tue, November 17 2009, 10:46 AM
A City Council commission has criticized the administration for focusing on physical development while ignoring programs that could raise residents’ awareness of littering, for example.
Secretary of Commission D, overseeing transportation, spatial planning and public works, Rois Hadayana Syaugie, said the administration’s key programs dedicated to flood mitigation were focused solely on infrastructure development.
“There should be an intensive campaign to change people’s habit of littering,” he said Monday, adding that such a program was no less important than the procurement of water pumps.
During a plenary session where every commission conveyed their view on the 2010 city budget plan, head of Commission D Berlin Hutajulu said his commission hoped the public works agency would use the Rp 855 billion (US$91 million) budget to minimize flood damage.
He said some programs, however, needed further evaluation.
“The construction of the Halim dam [in East Jakarta], which has an allocation of Rp 16.6 billion, should be clarified because it falls under the authority of the Public Works Ministry,” he said.
He said the planned overpass from Jl. Antasari to Blok M in South Jakarta and another that would connect Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta and Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta should be evaluated because it affected the city’s spatial plan from 2010 to 2030.
H.M. Firmansyah, head of Commission E, overseeing education and welfare, said the commission regretted the measly allocation for health, which amounted to Rp 1.9 trillion or just 8.16 percent of the city budget.
“The [health] budget is less than the 2009 revised budget of 8.18 percent. We’re a long way off the 15 percent allocation promised by the city,” he said.
In June, the City Council approved the new regional health system bylaw, which limited health systems to a maximum of just 15 percent of the annual regional budget.
Firmansyah also said Commission E members were working toward the drafting of a bylaw on the elimination of violence against women and children.
The bylaw draft is expected to be submitted to the City Council early next year.
Ida Mahmudah of Commission A, overseeing administration, land, civil registry and population, said the commission urged the administration to build fire fighting posts in densely populated subdistricts.
Ida also said the civil registry and population agency should improve its services because there were still many complaints about it.
“Services for people are still shoddy and there are still complaints related to fees and time,” she said.
She said the budget for feasibility study for the mass rapid transit system should be evaluated, deeming it too expensive.
“Besides, there is no detailed explanation on the use of the budget,” Ida said.
Meanwhile, Ridho Kamaluddin, who represented Commission C, overseeing finance, said the commission was concerned about low budget spending and recommended the city delay or cancel programs that had low rates of spending.
According to the Jakarta Financial Management Agency, the parks and cemeteries agency, the transportation agency, the disaster management and fire agency and the culture and tourism agency, disbursement of budgeted funds was 40 percent below average as of September.
The administration has proposed to set its 2010 budget at Rp 23.91 trillion, a 1.3 percent increase on the 2009 budget of Rp 23.59 trillion.
