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Billions for glue? Jakarta in sticky situation after irregularities found in planned budget
The city allocated Rp 82.8 billion (US$5.9 million) for children’s multipurpose glue and Rp 124 billion for pens. The items were listed under “operational costs for elementary schools”.
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Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan acts as the inspector for a flag-hoisting ceremony to celebrate Indonesia's 74th anniversary at Maju Beach on Aug. 17, marking the first time the Jakarta administration held the country's anniversary at the controversial reclaimed islet. (JP/Narabeto Korohama)
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s Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta has the largest regional budget in the country, allowing the administration to provide high-quality public services to its large population. However, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan’s administration is in the spotlight after several budgeting irregularities have drawn criticism.
The administration and the City Council are speeding up deliberations for the 2020 budget priorities and ceiling (KUA-PPAS). All 2020 regional budgets must be completed before the Nov. 30 deadline set by the Home Ministry.
Several items in the planned budget had unreasonable prices, according to the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), a newcomer to the City Council.
The party faction pointed out that the city had allocated Rp 82.8 bllion (US$5.9 million) for multipurpose glue for school children and Rp 124 billion for pens. The items were listed under “operational costs for elementary schools”.
Other questionable items included Rp 121 billion for computers and Rp 66 billion for storage servers, PSI faction head Idris Ahmad said.
He also said on Wednesday that the councilors had yet to receive detailed line items for the programs and activities proposed in the KUA-PPAS draft.
The proposed budget priorities should have included line item details to define the budget ceiling, he said.
