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lack of proper planning during the budgeting process has prompted the Jakarta administration to propose the removal of trillions of rupiah from the 2018 city budget following a failure to execute several strategic programs.

Setting a budget of Rp 77.1 trillion (US$5.2 billion) for 2018, as of mid-August the Jakarta administration has only spent 39.8 percent.

Last year, the city disbursed 85 percent of its budget.

In order to minimize the amount of unused funds, some city agencies plan to slash their budgets in the revision of the 2018 city budget (APBD-P), which is usually deliberated in late September.

The Jakarta Water Management Agency has significantly contributed to the poor performance and is the agency with the lowest disbursement. The agency has only spent 20.3 percent of its allocated Rp 4.5 trillion in the city budget.

The agency plans to scrap around Rp 500 billion in spending, for, among other things, the development of a reservoir in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, and the development of waste-treatment plants (IPAL).

The agency head Teguh Hendarwan said the agency had just acquired 1.9 hectares of 3.8 ha of land designated for the project in Lebak Bulus.

The development of the Lebak Bulus reservoir, which aims to prevent floods in the area, has been halted since 2016. “Some residents still do not want to leave the area. To avoid conflict with the residents, we halted the land-acquisition process,” Teguh told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The residents could not be relocated as the housing agency had not provided enough low-cost apartments for them, he said.

Meanwhile, the development of IPAL in 10 areas in the city was hampered because the tender process has not worked out. Therefore, the agency plans to scrap the Rp 9 billion allocated for the project.

The agency decided to postpone the project to 2019. Until the end of this year, the agency would engage a team of consultants to examine areas that could be used for communal IPAL.

Previously, the agency also planned to cut Rp 450 billion for the development of a warehouse to store the agency’s heavy equipment.

The Public Housing and Settlement Agency has also scrapped a budget of Rp 712 billion for the development of apartments on Jl. Inspeksi BKT in Ujung Menteng and PIK Pulogadung in Penggilingan, Cakung East Jakarta, and the renovation of apartments in Karang Anyar, Sawah Besar, Central Jakarta.

It has also canceled shelter construction for Bukit Duri residents, whose landmark victory over the Jakarta administration has raised the hope of better kampung management in the city.

Acting agency head Meli Budiastuti said the budget items were removed because the agency had run out of time to finish their construction this year.

The technical problem of proposing single-year project schemes, instead of a multi-year schemes, hampered the construction, she said.

Member of Commission D overseeing development in Jakarta Council, Bestari Barus of the NasDem Party, criticized the city administration’s inability to execute its programs.

From a series of hearings conducted by Commission D with the relevant agencies, he expected that unused funding from the water management, housing, forestry and other agencies could amount to Rp 3 trillion.

“Since the city budget comes from taxes, the scrapping of the city budget will mean residents will not be able to enjoy the promised development,” Bestari said.

During the budgeting process the city administration scrapped the budget for several city-owned enterprises (BUMD), currently it plans to channel the unused funds for some BUMD, Bestari said.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) executive director Enny Sri Hartati said it was common for the regional administrations to slash its budget.

However, the budget cuts, which happened because the city administration could not execute some programs, would mean the city would lose opportunities.

“Fiscal stimulus results has multiplier effect. Therefore, the canceled programs will mean the city loses its multiplier potential,” she said.