Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Critics say that despite campaigning on a populist platform, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono continues to act the opposite by renovating the fence encircling the Presidential Palace compound at a cost of Rp 22.58 billion (US$2.54 million).
"The amount is four times the cost of renovating the fence around the National Monument," Roy Salam, a legal and political budget researcher at the Indonesia Budget Center, told The Jakarta Post over the phone Sunday.
Renovation of the National Monument's fence cost Rp 8.8 billion, despite covering an area 11 times larger than the palace's 6.8 hectares. "The budget is excessive," Roy said.
According to Hasrul Azwar, a member of the House of Representatives' budgetary committee, the government proposed the amount citing concerns of a possible terrorist attack on the President. "That's why we approved it," Hasrul told the Post over the phone.
The government submitted documents in November 2009 purportedly showing that the President was a target of a possible terrorist attack when they proposed the budget. "The government said the renovation would also improve security at the palace," Hasrul added.
When asked to clarify the security concerns brought up by the government, Hasril said he did not know. "The government did not give details," he said.
He said the public should not be worried because the use of the funds would be audited later, "so there should not be any problems".
Roy, however, said the House should have rejected the proposal because the government did not submit details of the fence renovation project. "We still don't know what kind of fence will be used or what security equipment will be installed," he said.
He also underlined the social impact of the renovation, saying it made the palace more inaccessible to the public with its three-meter-high fence.
"The palace is a state symbol and people have a right to get access to it," Roy said. "When it is surrounded by such a high fence it will only create boundaries with the public."
It could mean the government was trying to distance itself from the people, he said.
Previously, Yudhoyono also made a controversial decision when he issued Cabinet members and heads of other state institutions Toyota Crown Royal Saloon automobiles as their official cars. The 79 new cars cost Rp 800 million each.
Another controversial item is the Rp 200 billion procurement of a presidential airplane. All these items were placed in the 2009 supplementary state budget.
According to the head of Indonesia Corruption Watch's (ICW) political division, Abdullah Dahlan, these allocations were deliberately put in at the last minute in November last year so the House's budgetary committee did not have enough time to analyze the budget in detail.
"The House should have been critical in determining whether this is the kind of development people need," he told news portal detik.com. He added such provisions would only create a negative impression of the government.
"Building a higher fence will not address security issues. To effectively address security, the state security force needs to better coordinate with the police," Abdullah said.