“Dear City Council, the PDIP [Indonesian democratic Party of Struggle], the PPP [United Development Party], the Democratic Party, the Hanura Party, the PKB [National Awakening Party] and the Nasdem Party. [We] reject the wasteful spending in the 2018 city budget,” reads a flower board found in front of the City Council headquarters in Central Jakarta on Friday.

The flower board was sent by a group of Jakartans, who wanted to give a reminder to the councilors, especially the political parties that supported former governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in Jakarta's gubernatorial election. Ahok was well-known for his thorough monitoring of budget planning, including scrapping allocations he considered irrelevant to the public.

In the draft 2018 city budget, the current administration under the leadership of new Governor Anies Baswedan has allocated Rp 345.6 billion (US$25.58 million) to the city council, which is almost double this year’s allocation of Rp 107.7 billion.

The Rp 346.6 billion includes Rp 620 million to revamp a fountain in front of the council headquarters and some Rp 346.7 million for purchasing automatic air freshener dispensers. The total budget allocation for city councilors’ working visits also increased significantly to Rp 107.7 billion next year, from Rp 28 billion previously. (vny)

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