Novianti Setuningsih – The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) has described the process of allocating development funding as a highly politicized process.
Maulana, an advocacy coordinator for the independent watchdog known as Fitra, said over the weekend that there were strong suspicions of bargaining between the House of Representatives' Budget Committee and the Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Budgeting to get certain allocations approved.
He said the directorate general played an important role in matters related to the budget, making it appealing for the House Budget Committee to approach it.
"The Finance Ministry's Directorate General of Budgeting is like a little king due to its important role in drafting budget allocations and deciding the amount of funding to assign," Maulana said.
He alleged that such budget negotiations took place during the budgeting process for the Regional Infrastructure Adjustment Fund (DPID) as well as the Accelerated Fund for Regional Infrastructure Development (DPPID).
"The DPID and DPPID cases occurred because adjustment funds were not recognized under the law on the financial balance of the state budget," he said.
Maulana claimed the adjustment fund was actually a disguised pork-barrel fund for legislators, after the Finance Ministry rejected an earlier pork-barrel fund following public condemnation.
The number of regions eligible to receive the 2011 DPID budget of Rp 7.7 trillion ($795 million) apparently did not match data recommended by the ministry, Fitra said. Around 100 regions did not receive a DPID budget although the ministry had recommended them eligible for the fund.
Fitra also accused the directorate general of wasting Rp 16.7 billion since 2011 on paying for an application system for ministries and government institutions to report working and budgeting plans.
However, the application system format changed from year to year, thus making it difficult to compare the plans.
"System changes occurred, for instance in the account codes or subcomponent formatting and this causes a mismatch in the code and the system, allowing the budget to be blocked [by legislators]," Maulana said.
Legislators would mark a budget proposal with an asterisk if they considered it unimportant or illogical. Maulana called on House Commission XI, overseeing financial affairs, to cancel the budget for the application system.