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City Council approves inflated 2018 Jakarta draft budget
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Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (right) and his deputy Sandiaga Uno (second right) push a trolley containing the 2018 city draft budget documents after a plenary session on the draft budget approval at the City Council building on Thursday. (kompas.com/Jessi Carina)
The Jakarta City Council approved the 2018 draft city budget at Rp 77.117 trillion (US$5.7 billion) on Thursday.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said he appreciated the public’s attention toward the city budget. “We will review the prevailing regulation and mechanism so that the budget can be absorbed within the principles of fairness,” he said.
The Jakarta administration has proposed controversial changes to the 2018 draft budget, including scrapping trillions of rupiah of capital investment for six city-owned companies to accommodate key programs initiated by Anies and his deputy Sandiaga Uno, such as the OK OCE entrepreneurship program, zero down-payment housing scheme, Jakarta Smart Card Plus (KJP Plus) and the Jakarta Health Card Plus (KJP Plus).
Other controversial changes include the proposed Governor's Team for Development Acceleration (TGUPP) with 73 members and a budget of Rp 28 billion, from the previous budget of Rp 2.3 billion with 15 members.
Before it was approved, the plenary session saw councillors voice their concerns about the budget.
Following the approval, the draft budget will be submitted to the Home Ministry to be evaluated within 15 days.
Councillor Syarif said he was optimistic that the ministry would approve the budget. “Even if there is an evaluation, it will only cover administrative issues, not figures.”
Earlier, online platform Kawal Jakarta called on the administration to explain the inflated draft budget. In late October, the budget stood at Rp 74 trillion, only to soar to Rp 77.1 trillion in two weeks. (cal/dis)
