TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) advocacy chief Tulus Abadi warned DKI Jakarta Governor and Deputy Governor Joko Widodo-Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to be cautious in utilizing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) grants that the regional governor has accepted as one of their funding source.

First, Tulus warned, the CSR should not be the company's platform for promotion. "The regional government should not be trapped into accepting the program as a mean of promotion for the companies," said Tulus, Monday, July 22, 2013.

Second, the regional governor should not misunderstand the form of CSR. The CSR, he reminded, is not merely about pouring money for societal programs, pointing to Law No 40 Year 2007 on Limited Liability Companies.

The funding poured by the company for CSR programs in DKI Jakarta is only a tiny portion of a genuine CSR. "The real CSR is about managing the side effects of the companies' products," he explained. For instance, for automotive companies, the real CSR is to produce vehicles that do not pollute the environment.

Recently, the utilization of CSR funding by DKI Jakarta regional governor has been critiqued by a number of experts, like the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA). FITRA's coordinator, Uchok Sky Khadafi, opined that the direct management of CSR funding by the regional governors or the regional working units (SKPD) is prone to misuse.

ATMI PERTIWI