TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) viewed that overseas working visits conducted by the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) members had not been effective, since they often visited tourist destinations.
“The destinations of comparative studies are often tourist destinations, such as Europe, Japan and the United States. I don’t think [the working visits] have academic values,” ICW researcher Donal Fariz said in Jakarta on Friday, April 29, 2016.
Donal viewed that there had been no control mechanisms to assess the effectiveness of the working visits. According to him, councilors should improve the information access for public, instead of conducting overseas working visits.
He added, Regional Legislative Councils as an institution overseeing the government should have been role models for other institutions, instead of wasting budget. Donal said that he would appreciate councilors who improved their communications with Jakarta residents.
Earlier, as many as 13 city councilors conducted overseas working visit to Japan, China and South Korea on April 25-29, 2016. Among the councilors was Jakarta Legislative Council chairman Prasetio Edi Marsudi.
Syamsudian Alimsyah, director of the Committee for Supervising the Legislative (Kopel), said that he opposed the program, since overseas working visits were not appropriate amidst public’s distrust in councilors following an alleged bribery case surrounding the Jakarta Bay reclamation project.
MAWARDAH NUR HANIFIYANI