Govt Meetings Costing $1.5b Are Too Much: Jokowi

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, Sep 12, 2014

President-elect Joko Widodo says that the cost for government meetings
in next year’s state budget was too high. (Antara Photo/Noveradika)

Jakarta. President-elect Joko Widodo says he was shocked to learn the outgoing administration allocated more than Rp 18 trillion ($1.5 billion) for government meetings in the 2015 state budget.

“Really? For what kind of meetings? How can [the costs] for meetings reach Rp 18 trillion? I don’t understand,” Joko said at Jakarta City Hall on Thursday, adding that the amount was too high.

Joko said that after assuming office he would ask his ministers to optimize the use of facilities in their office.

Holding off-site meetings in expensive hotels is a common government practice, as any noon-time visit to an upscale Jakarta hotel would likely attest.

Joko argued that the practice did not make sound fiscal sense, as meeting rooms in ministries were in good condition and suitable for coordination meetings.

He said he would cut ministries’ meeting budgets and reallocate funds toward priority programs like the Healthy Indonesia Card and Smart Indonesia Card, as well as to build infrastructure in villages.

“Efficiency [measures] must be taken on things like that, especially when there are strains on our cash flow. [Everything] has to be [explained] in detail so that we can understand whether the use is logical or not,” Joko said.

His transition team found that Rp 18.1 trillion had been allocated for government meetings in the 2015 state budget, which comprises Rp 6.25 trillion for meetings in town and Rp 11.9 trillion for out-of-town meetings.

The team also learned that next year’s budget allocates Rp 15.5 trillion for official trip expenses, Rp 14 trillion for IT expenses and Rp 263.9 trillion on salaries for civil servants — a figure that swells to Rp 340 trillion when local civil servants and education budgets are included.

“We calculated that the government allocated up to Rp 18 trillion on meetings,” Joko transition team deputy Hasto Kristiyanto said.

Hasto added that the money would be more wisely invested in improving government efficiency and programs to improve the people’s welfare.

“If it can be reduced by 40 percent, it would bring a huge direct impact on the people,” he said.

Aside from the meeting budget, efficiencies can also be made from IT spending and building maintenance budget.

“The figure is just fantastic. The spirit is how to cut the budget and make them efficient,” Hasto said.

On Tuesday Joko rejected a plan to spend almost Rp 92 billion in state funds to procure ministers’ vehicles.

The State Secretariat announced late last month that Mercedes-Benz Indonesia had won the tender to provide new cars for the next batch of ministers, but later scrapped the plan in favor of leaving the decision for the incoming administration.

State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said the deal could easily be scrapped because no contract had yet been signed with the carmaker.

For perspective on just how much the 2015 state budget had earmarked for meetings, Rp 18 trillion, construction of the north-south route for Jakarta’s Mass Rapid Transit project, which Joko championed as governor, cost only Rp 16 trillion.

Jakarta’s MRT is funded by the government through offshore loans from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The project is part of the city administration’s effort to overcome chronic traffic congestion in the capital.

The money planned for meetings could also have funded infrastructure projects such as the Suramadu (Surabaya-Madura) Bridge that spans 5.4 kilometers across the Madura Strait at a cost of Rp 4.5 trillion or the double-track rail project spanning 727 kilometers between Jakarta and Surabaya to the tune of Rp 10.78 trillion.

Asked about the whopping meeting budget, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said he did not handle, nor could he discuss, technical aspects of the budget.

“I don’t know. That’s very technical,” Julian said.

He added that the budget was already approved by legislators and its figures were calculated as a nominal increase on baselines set in previous years’ budgets.