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Councilor says Rotterdam visit is urgent
Selamat Nurdin (center)
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Selamat Nurdin (center). (Kompas.com/Kurnia Sari Aziza)
Many have criticized the Jakarta City Council's plan to visit Rotterdam, the Netherlands, because they think such a visit is only a waste of taxpayers' money. But the council's Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) faction chairman Selamat Nurdin said that the visit was important.
'There is assistance for the reclamation project and work related to the Giant Sea Wall program. The governor has gone there. When the governor proposes a budget for the program, who will approve it? Isn't it the City Council,' Selamat asserted on Friday as reported by kompas.com.
According to Selamat, representatives of the council need to visit Rotterdam because the councilors need to talk directly with relevant officials in the Netherlands and cannot only rely on video, posted through YouTube.
Selamat considered that the visit was urgent, but it had not been decided because the City Council needs to prepare to make sure that the visit could run smoothly.
First, the council has to send a letter to the government of the country that the officials will visit to explain the purpose of the visit. Then, they have to wait for a response that the government wants to accept them. In addition, the council needs approval from the Home Ministry for the visit.
Members of the City Council plan to visit Japan, China, South Korea and the US.
Regarding those destinations, Selamat said that he did not know why those countries were selected, but for South Korea and China, according to the councilor, the council got invitations. 'It is related to the sister cities. I don't know the reasons for the other visits,' he added. (edn/bbn)(++++)
