Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo could smile Friday when the Jakarta City Council approved the proposed Rp 27.95 trillion (US$3.09 billion) 2011 City Budget following weeks of debate involving the local legislature.
The governor was happy not only because of the council’s unanimous endorsement of the budget, but also because it would ensure the immediate implementation of various development projects in the capital.
Disappointed with what he believed was time wasting, the governor early this week threatened to ignore the city councilors’ deliberations and instead reuse the 2010 budget for next year.
Fauzi was particularly outraged by a number of councilors who he felt were wasting time debating what he thought were unimportant matters.
The approval for the 2011 budget, which is Rp 1.24 trillion higher than this year’s, was approved two weeks late compared to this year’s budget, which was approved on Dec. 2 last year.
“I hope that the Home Ministry will return the budget bill next week so that we can start to work soon,” the governor said after the budget approval, referring to the requirement of the ministry to check regional budgets, following the approval by local legislative councils.
The details of the allocations of the city budget were not available. However, a number of budget allocations have been revealed, including those for transportation and flood mitigation — two vital sectors, which have a wide impact on Jakartans.
Regrettably, the budget allocations for the two sectors for next year only slightly increased from this year’s allocations. The budget for transportation has reportedly risen to Rp 2.53 trillion from Rp 1.96 trillion this year, while the budget for flood mitigation will increase to Rp 1.36 trillion from Rp 1.3 trillion.
The city needs more funds allocated for transportation, not only because taxes on private car owners have been the main source of the city’s revenue, but also because the funds are badly needed to improve public transportation, which would reduce the dependence on private cars, which are believed to be the main contributor to daily traffic chaos in this city.
An adequate fund for flood mitigation is important to eliminate dozens of flood-prone areas in the city as well as to improve drainage systems, which often overflow when it rains, which damages roads.
We hope that the details of the budget will soon be available for the public to ensure transparency in the use of the taxpayers’ money. With Rp 27.95 trillion to spend, Jakarta is among the few provinces in this country with a large budget. If the money is spent wisely, it would improve the welfare of the city’s residents.
We welcome governor Fauzi’s call for public participation in monitoring the city budget because it is undeniable that corruption and other inefficient practices in budget spending remain a great problem in our bureaucracy.
Public participation in the budget monitoring is expected to deter those who wish to use the budget not in the interest of the people. Only through transparency and accountability can the public monitor how bureaucrats spend their money.
