The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has released its latest data that shows that every legislator at the House of Representatives receives Rp 168 million (US$19,656) annually in phone credit allowance.
The data shows that the House budget for phone credit allowance for each legislator is Rp 14 million a month.
“The number excludes phone credit allowance given throughout every recess session,” FITRA coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.
FITRA says the country's lawmakers receive around Rp 20 million in communication allowance during every recess session. The total money spent on such an allowance reaches Rp 102 million per legislator for five recess sessions annually.
Uchok said in total every lawmaker receives Rp 270 million every year for their communication needs.
“This is a waste of money. It is outrageous. It is obvious that the phone credit allowance goes straight into the pockets of our lawmakers to satisfy their hedonistic desires,” he added.
He said the huge budget allocated for phone credit allowance did not reflect the condition of Indonesian people, who mostly still live below the poverty line.
“Therefore, FITRA is demanding that the House scrap the budget for phone credit allowance and we also reject the plan to increase the budget for recess sessions during 2012,” he said.
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