House Speaker wants clarification on Rp 20.3b room renovation

House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso has said that House speakers will ask the House secretariat for an explanation regarding the planned renovation of the House’s budget committee room for which Rp 20.3 billion (US$2.2 million) has been budgeted.

“The House secretariat is scheduled to give her explanation this afternoon. We will ask for moral accountability to settle this. We should not let things like this become a burden on us all,” he said on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He said that the House speakers knew nothing about the technical aspects of the renovation, including the fund involved as it was the project lay under the authority of the secretariat general.

He said he had been bemused when he found out about the matter.

“If what they say about the lavish design [of the meeting room] is true, then that is not right,” he said.

House secretary-general Nining Indra Saleh previously said that the Rp 20.3 billion was spent on renovating and expanding the capacity of the budget committee room.

It was also used to repair and renew several of the room’s facilities such as lighting, air-conditioning, sound system and acoustics, as well as its floor, carpet and ceiling. (awd)