Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The House of Representatives on Tuesday said it would not seek funds for so-called aspiration houses and would instead focus on a new office tower for lawmakers.

The majority of factions agreed to abandon the plan after a closed meeting between the House leadership and the Household Affairs Committee (BURT), according to Pius Lustrilanang, deputy chairman of the committee.

In August, the Golkar Party proposed a plan to allocate Rp 374 million ($42,000) a year to each House member to fund the building and upkeep of offices in their districts. The offices, known as aspiration houses, were intended to give lawmakers a place to meet their constituents.

The aspiration house plan replaced a Golkar plan for "aspiration funds," Rp 15 billion annual allocations for lawmakers to use on various development projects in their districts.

The handouts were roundly considered pork-barrel spending, and were opposed by the rest of the parties in the House and the general public when they were proposed this year.

Money for the aspiration houses would have come out of the state budget, which is already chronically short of funding for schools, hospitals, infrastructure and a host of other programs. A large part of the state budget comes from taxes paid by citizens, including the poor.

"Proposals for the aspiration houses were rejected by all factions. We will not start the program yet," Pius said, as most factions would rather prioritize the plan to build a new office tower.

But proposals for the project have drawn criticism from the public, who say lawmakers are out of touch for pushing for new, expensive accommodations while not fulfilling their responsibilities as representatives of the people.

Arwani Thomafi, from the United Development Party (PPP), said House members were still in favor of a new office building, but not aspiration houses. "None of the factions objected with the plan to build a new office building," he said.

The House is in the process of making a new estimate on construction costs, lowering the price tag from Rp 1.8 trillion to around Rp 1.3 trillion, with construction expected to begin in early 2011, Pius explained.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said the legislature would try to get the cost even lower, to about Rp 1.2 trillion. The 36-story building plan include sports and recreation facilities, along with spacious office suites for each lawmaker.