Indonesia's
Parliament is in the spotlight once again - this time over toilet repairs in
the ageing complex.
The estimated cost budgeted for renovations:
Two billion rupiah (US$219,000) for some 220 toilets in the 24-storey building
housing the offices of 560 lawmakers and their staff.
The sum - nine million rupiah per toilet - is
larger than usual but not astronomically high, yet the ensuing criticism in the
media and on Internet forums has gone on for one week now, reflecting growing
public unease over what many see as wasteful government spending.
Such issues have hogged the limelight from
time to time. Last month, MPs were criticised for going on overseas study trips
at state expense to study laws and policies in countries from Singapore to
South Korea, with some saying that such research could have been done over the
Internet.
A trip by lawmakers to London in 2010
attracted criticism when details of their itinerary showed time allocated for
sightseeing and shopping at Harrods.
And proposals for a new Parliament complex -
the existing one was commissioned under then-President Sukarno and completed in
1968 - costing 1.3 trillion rupiah were put on hold last year after a public
outcry.
A post on an online forum says: "Perhaps
Parliament should host study visits for others on how to come up with
projects."
This time round, MPs have been vocal in
rebutting criticism on the toilet renovations. The specifications, said House
Speaker Marzuki Alie, were set by the Parliament secretariat and had to meet
those of government buildings.
"Everything that is used at one point has
to be repaired," official news agency Antara reported him as saying this
week. "The toilet is something that has to be repaired because it is used
every day."
Agreeing, Health Minister Endang Rahayu
Sedyaningsih said the toilets were not in good shape, although she declined to
comment on the projected cost.
Consultative Assembly Deputy Speaker Hajrianto
Tohari was, however, more caustic. "Even if the toilet is clogged, it is
'all right'," he said, and added: "The public doesn't agree with the
House's plan to build anything."
Parliament watchers, however, told The Straits
Times that repairs or overseas trips would not have been an issue if lawmakers
had produced better results. Said one of them: "When there is some truth
to perceptions that many just talk, drink coffee and get rich, what else would
you expect?"
At a plenary session on Monday, Mr Marzuki
admitted that Parliament's track record in recent years has been paltry.
Last year, it sought to enact 91 new and
amended laws, but endorsed only 25. In 2010, it passed only 10 out of 70
targeted Bills.
But Mr Marzuki said quality, and not quantity,
mattered. New laws on social security had been passed, he noted, and a
financial services authority set up to improve banking supervision.
While toilet repairs may have hogged the
limelight, they are not the only contentious spending issue facing the House
this past fortnight. Its plans to spend three billion rupiah to upgrade a
motorcycle parking area for 800 bikes, and four billion rupiah for fingerprint
scanners to monitor MPs' attendance and install closed-circuit TVs, have also
drawn scrutiny.
Mr Uchok Sky Khadafi, investigation and
advocacy coordinator of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, told The
Straits Times that back-of-the-envelope calculations would suggest the costs of
many of these items are inflated.
He fears that more of such estimates might
surface as the 2014 elections draw closer and politicians seek funds for
re-election. He added: "They will resist the public outcry for as long as
they can."
Zakir Hussain
The Straits Times
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