Procurement of office cars for councilors scrapped

Hopes for Tangerang municipal legislative council members to receive office cars have faded as the Home Ministry has prohibited the spending.

Council speaker Herry Rumawatine said Wednesday the legislative body would force it will on buying office cars.

“We don’t want to be perceived as corrupt. During consultation the Home Ministry said that regional legislative body was not allowed to allocate regional budget for procurement of the facility,” he said.

The council endorsed on Tuesday the local government’s decision to shift the budget worth Rp 9.7 billion originally earmarked for the office cars to support the tap water company.

The approval should have been given last month, but Herry denied speculation that the postponement was triggered by the councilors’ disappointment with their failure to get the office cars.
   
“If the mayor has a good will, he could just allocate government spending on procurement of office cars for councilors as the Tangerang regency and Banten provincial governments have done,” Herry said.