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Jakarta budget spending slashed amid public scrutiny: Councillor
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A flower board sent to the City Council on Nov. 24 calls on the council and several political parties to reject the 2018 draft city budget, which is under deliberation, for its skyrocketing spending in several areas. (kompas.com/Sherly Puspita )
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ublic concern about Jakarta's 2018 draft budget influenced the outcome of deliberations, says a member of the City Council’s budget committee (Banggar).
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) politician Bestari Barus said public scrutiny toward the proposed budget, uploaded at apbd.jakarta.go.id, informed him of the proposed budgets for other council commissions.
"In the three years that I’ve been a councillor, this is the most unique budget deliberation, because I didn’t get [a copy of other commission’s budget deliberations]. We don't understand how the deliberation goes in other commissions," he said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.
Following mounting criticism from the public over the significant increase of Jakarta’s 2018 budget plan, the city administration and the City Council are planning to scrap billions of rupiah for programs considered unnecessary.
Previously, the City Council was set to receive Rp 107.7 billion (US$7.97 million) for working trips next year, which is four times higher than the allocated funds in 2017.
During the budgetary meeting at the City Council on Tuesday, the council said it would slash the working trip costs by Rp 43 billion.
The council has also scrapped the budget to renovate a fountain at the council’s office, which had been set at Rp 620 million. (fac)
