The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) revealed the city used the 2010 budget plan for dining unwisely.
Arief Rakhman, Fitra’s state budget official, said he suspected that officials had wasted the allocation set aside for food.
“For example, the budget allocation for Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo’s reception reaches Rp 4.9 billion [US$520,000] annually. This works out as about Rp 13 million a day, which is far too much,” he said.
Another example, he said, was the food allocation for an aerobic event at the social affairs agency, which reached Rp 100 million per year.
Ucok SKY Khadafi, a senior researcher at Fitra, said many agencies were not transparent in budgeting their spending plans for food.
Jakarta Financial Management Agency chief Sukri Bey, however, played down the criticism.
“I think the food budget is reasonable. The governor, for example, receives at least two important international or national guests at the City Hall each day and must provide them with a decent meal and entertainment,” he said.
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