Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The food and beverage allowance for the West Java governor and deputy governor for fiscal year 2005 has been increased by more than 60 percent to Rp 1.138 billion (US$126,450).
The budget allocated for that same purpose last year was Rp 701 million. The increase in the allocation has been roundly criticized by the public as well as members of the West Java legislature, which has to approve the provincial budget.
The "refreshments" allowance allocated to Governor Danny Setiawan and his deputy, Nu'man Abdul Hakim, is made up of three items – Rp 432.5 million for daily meals and refreshments, Rp 296.4 million for refreshments during meetings and Rp 410.6 million for entertaining guests. The allocation for daily meals, for example, amounts to Rp 1.6 million per day if divided by 260 working days per year.
The daily meals allowance is equivalent to four months average income per capita as based on a survey in 2004, the average monthly income per capita in West Java was Rp 408,260, although many subsist on less than this.
A Kiaracondong resident, Mimin Munaroh, 30, said that she was only given Rp 5,000 per day by her husband to feed him and her two children. Her husband works as a school caretaker.
"It would be great to have Rp 1.6 million a day to spend. It would be enough to eat like a king, and pay for my children's school fees and our electricity bills for five years," she said when asked for her opinion on the governor's meals allowance.
West Java councillor Abdul Muis, from the National Awakening faction, seemed surprised when reporters showed him the details of the meals budget.
"It's so disheartening when there are still nine million poor people that there can be allowances this high," he said.
Muis, a member of the provincial legislature's Commission A on governmental and legal affairs, deemed the budget "irrational" and promised to immediately look into the matter via the legislature's budget committee.
None of the members of the budget committee were available for comment as they were conducting comparative studies in Surabaya.
Head of the household bureau at the gubernatorial office, Daud Achmad, said that meals allowances were raised annually in accordance with anticipated increases in inflation.
The estimate was usually submitted by the household bureau to the general affairs bureau, which then forwarded it to the budget committee. It was then discussed jointly by the provincial administration and the legislative council for subsequent approval by the legislature.
"Don't get me wrong. It's not necessary to spend all the money. It's preferable to ask for more money at the beginning of the year rather than being left without enough money near the end of the year when the governor has a lot of guests to entertain," he said.
West Java provincial administration spokesman Yanto Subiyanto said that the increase in the allowance was connected with the Asia-Africa Conference golden jubilee ceremonies, which would be held in Bandung this year.
"Doesn't the governor have to entertain many state guests during the event? The cost will obviously be high," he said.
Besides that, he said that the meals allowance also included meals for gardeners, municipal police personnel and kitchen staff working for the governor and deputy governor.