Jakarta Globe, November 22, 2015
Jakarta.
Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has slashed the budget for hosting festivals
and events to promote Jakarta next year by nearly 60 percent, alleging markups
and inefficient spending.
Basuki told
Tempo that the Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency spent more than Rp 1.2
trillion ($87.7 million) to host a series of festivals in 2014, the bulk of
which went toward renting venues and hiring event organizers.
“So in 2015
we cut the budget [for festivals and events] to Rp 700 billion. Next year the
agency might only get Rp 300 billion,” the governor said.
Basuki
added that as of 2016, the agency could be barred from hiring private event
organizers, particularly for events that the city has been hosting for years.
“Because
it’s been employing event organizers, the agency has had to budget Rp 300
million to Rp 400 million to rent large Jakarta theaters. Imagine that – a
government agency having to pay for buildings owned by the city?” he said.
“I’m not
against festivals and events. What I’m fighting against are markups. After
evaluating [the agency’s budget], there have been too many markups.”
Basuki said
he had instructed the tourism agency to spend more on renovating museums.
“Our
museums are damp. Some are leaking. Yet [the agency] continues to stage
festivals and events for Rp 3 billion to Rp 5 billion each,” he said.
“Maybe the
agency officials thought I wouldn’t scrutinize their budget. I’ve been very
lenient for the 2015 [budget] because I don’t want trouble with agency
officials, with the City Council and the Home Affairs Ministry. But I won’t be
as tolerant for the 2016 [budget].”
Since he
became governor a year ago, Basuki has tred to overhaul how city agencies apply
for and spend their funding – a process that he said was riddled with “phantom
projects.”
These
efforts last year put him at odds with City Council members and dragged the
budget deliberation process out for months beyond the year-end deadline.
For the
past week, the governor has held meetings with his subordinates to discuss
budgets proposed by all of the city’s agencies and has scrapped projects that
he sees as wasteful and overpriced.
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