Armando Siahaan – The House of Representatives' household affairs committee on Tuesday vehemently refuted allegations by a budgetary watchdog that the renovation of the official houses of lawmakers contained possible markups and other irregularities.

"The project went through the proper processes, it can be accounted for," said Refrizal, the deputy chairman of the committee also known as the BURT. "If they have proof of irregularities, by all means, report it to the authorities."

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) on Monday said the total cost of the renovation of 495 houses in the official residential complex in Kalibata, South Jakarta, should be about Rp 247 billion ($26.4 million), but had been inflated to Rp 445 billion.

"A markup is dangerous; it's a serious allegation," the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker said.

Refrizal said that if Fitra did have proof of irregularities, then BURT, as the body responsible for supervising the project, would be more than willing to support the claim. "If they don't have any data [on the markup], but already made a public statement, that's basically lying to the public."

Refrizal also questioned the data obtained by Fitra, saying there was a significant discrepancy from the BURT figures.

Fitra had claimed that the total renovation cost was Rp 445 billion – Rp 155 billion approved in 2009 and Rp 290 billion approved this year – while Refrizal said that according to a contract document submitted by the House Secretariat General, which initiated the project, the total project cost was Rp 355 billion. He said a total of Rp 152 billion was approved last year and Rp 203 billion this year.

"Where do they get the numbers from?" he said, adding that Fitra should file a proper report and check its accuracy before making what it called dubious public statements.

Refrizal said the project could be audited, as it went through a proper open tender process. He said the contract was given to state-owned PT Adhi Karya.

Fitra's Uchok Sky Khadafi acknowledged that there could have been a discrepancy. He said the group obtained its data from the House Secretariat General's list of budget implementation (DIPA) issued before the tender process, and it was possible the contract price was lower than the initial allocation.

But Uchok said a Rp 355 billion budget still seemed higher than justified. He said Fitra would investigate the budget proposal submitted by Adhi Karya.

Refrizal said the total budget was not for the renovations alone, but included the construction of 10 new two-story houses, a mosque and other facilities.

Refrizal also addressed Fitra's question on the whereabouts of materials removed during renovations, the sale of which Fitra estimated could earn the country almost Rp 5.8 billion.

"The old materials, such as the roofs and the rubble, were taken care of by the State Secretariat because state buildings fall under their authorities," he said. "Some of the materials were reused, but the rest should be with the State Secretariat."

Responding to Fitra's allegation that the lawmakers are wasting money through the allocation of Rp 11.4 billion for new furniture, Refrizal said the old furniture had been auctioned by the State Secretariat to former lawmakers, with the money going to the state.

Uchok said this was exactly what they wanted: "an explanation on where the materials went." "We will now check with the State Secretariat on whether they actually conducted the auction process or not," he said.

Refrizal welcomed Fitra's plan to raise the issue with such bodies as the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). "If they have the data, BURT will support them," he said.

Nining Indra Saleh, the House secretary general, told the Jakarta Globe that according to the law, all activity that used the state budget would be audited by the Supreme Audit Agency anyway, and therefore, "we must all wait for the BPK result."