Anies criticized for raising budget for team of aides

The Jakarta Post - 11 Oktober 2019

During deliberation of the Jakarta administration’s 2020 budget priorities, it was revealed that the city would allocate Rp 21 billion (US$1.48 million) for the Governor’s Team for Accelerated Development (TGUPP).

The budget for the team, which serves only as a bridge between the governor and the city’s working units to speed up coordination, has continually increased since 2017, starting at 1 billion in 2017 before rising to Rp 18.9 billion in 2018 and Rp 21 billion this year.

Data on the TGUPP is available for the public on apbdjakarta.go.id.

"The increase is to anticipate additions and adjustments to the members' ranks," Jakarta Development Planning Board (Bappeda) head Sri Mahendra Satria Wirawan said as reported bykompas.com on Oct. 3.

Mahendra was referring to the eight salary groups in which the TGUPP members are divided, as stated in a 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial decree on TGUPP financial rights. The decree stipulates that TGUPP salaries range from Rp 8 million to Rp 50 million per month.

Members are ranked based on their expertise, educational background and work experience.

The adjustments, Mahendra added, aimed to ensure that the monthly salary of a member with a master's degree and 10 years of work experience was not equal to that of a member with a bachelor's degree and five years of work experience.

When asked'about the plan to increase budget for the TGUPP, Jakarta Governor. Anies Baswedan denied there was any increase, saying, "No, no, no, it stays the same. [There are] no changes."

There are now 67 people within the team, which comprises a chairman, heads of three divisions and members of eight different ranks. All of them were appointed by Anies himself.

Anies issued a regulation in 2017 that enabled him to recruit 73 team members. Under a new regulation, no number is specified, so the governor can appoint any number of members as long as it "suits the needs based on the workload and the city's financial capabilities".

Currently, the team has three divisions, the heads of whom worked for Anies' campaign team in 2016.

The director of former state-owned electricity company PLN, Amin Subekti, is currently at the helm of the TGUPP, with Marco Kusumawijaya at the head of the Jakarta Bay management committee, Bambang Widjojanto heading the corruption prevention committee and Rikrik Rizkiyana in charge of the regulation synchronization committee.

Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) executive director Robert Endi Jaweng criticized the increased budget and called for an audit and evaluation of the team.

He expressed doubt over the importance of the TGUPP's role in city development as the team had never made any announcements on what they had done.

"Some members of,the TGUPP are my friends, colleagues. I've never heard of them talking about their work. It makes me wonder, are they really doing something?" he told The Jakarta Post On Monday.

"Twenty-one billion rupiah is a big number. Before allocating such a huge amount of money, why didn't the City Council evaluate the team's work first? [There
should have been an evaluation on] whether or not it has functioned as planned, which is to speed up the governor’s projects."

He alleged there was maladministration regarding the budget allocation and member appointment processes. He raised questions over the fact that the TGUPP budget, most of which he believed would go to wages, was allocated under the Bappeda, yet the members were personally chosen by the governor.

The TGUPP under the administration of former Jakarta governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was supposedly where senior civil servants or troubled officials who reportedly were close to the governor gathered.

When Basuki Tjahaja Purnama replaced him as governor, the team became a group of his close advisors in running his administration. The budget for the TGUPP came from the governor's operational allowance, not a special budget.

“Therefore, in the past, we could do nothing about the team since it was formed and paid by the governor himself. But now we are using the city budget, so it makes sense if we demand transparency,” Robert added.

The Jakarta Post, Friday, October 11, 2019.

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