T

he city administration has rejected a proposal suggested by the City Council to give each of its 106 members a personal assistant amid the deliberation of a draft bylaw on their salary increase.

“The request for a personal assistant per councilor is not in line with the government regulation. I want the bylaw to refer to the regulation,” Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat told journalists after attending the plenary session at the City Council on Wednesday.

The city administration expressed its rejection of the request at the plenary session on Wednesday, where the City Council and the administration continued the deliberation of a draft bylaw granting a pay rise to councilors based on a government regulation signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in June.

The regulation stipulates that all regional councilors are entitled to a raise in allowances for their performance. However, it does not say anything about personal assistants. Article 23 of the regulation states that every body at the City Council, such as a faction, a commission and the Jakarta Legislative Council, is allowed to have a team of up to three experts.

Furthermore, Djarot said personal assistants were not essential and would place a burden on the city budget.

Providing experts for the councilors to assist them in matters of budgeting and the drafting of laws was deemed more important.

“Groups of experts can help city councilors boost their performance in managing the city budget, making bylaws and controlling the city administration,” he added.

At the previous plenary session, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction had said that personal assistants were badly needed “considering that Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia [so that] Jakarta councilors have greater obligations and responsibilities.”

The Gerindra Party faction echoed that sentiment, saying that Jakarta was a capital city of large financial capability.

A member of the Hanura Party, Syarifudin, said he needed a personal assistant to help him register people’s aspirations. The personal assistants, he said, would be deployed to the councilors’ respective electoral districts.

Reflecting on his experience, Syarifudin said there were residents in his district in North Jakarta who could not get hospital treatment because of fully booked rooms.

“Had personal assistants already existed back then, they could have handled the problems,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bestari Barus from the NasDem Party said the personal assistant was crucial to serve and meet citizens when city councilors had to attend meetings.

“It is impossible to serve citizens and attend a meeting both at the same time, so a councilor needs at least one personal assistant to help him serve citizens,” he said.

The city councilors are currently speeding up the deliberations to pass the bylaw by next month.

All nine factions in the City Council have expressed their support for passing the bylaw on their allowance increase, arguing that their allowance had not been increased in at least 10 years. With the new bylaw, the city council leaders and members can receive a raise of around 20 percent of their current salaries.

The Jakarta City Council has been under public scrutiny for its poor performance. The councilors only passed two of 32 draft bylaws listed in the city’s 2017 legislation program.