TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama said that he would not question the Jakarta Legislative Council’s plan to allocate Rp 1.6 billion (US$114,000) to procure 101 laptops.

Ahok said that the procurement should not be a problem as long as it did not involve a price markup.

“It’s probably to encourage (city councilors) to be more proactive,” Ahok said at the City Hall on Friday, October 9, 2015.

According to Ahok, computer procurements are frequently initiated both by the city council and the city administration.

“The executives conduct computer procurements worth tens or hundreds of billion (rupiah),” Ahok revealed.

However, Ahok said that the fund allocation to procure laptops would not be necessary if it had been conducted last year.

City Council secretary Muhammad Yuliadi said that the procurement was proposed by councilors to replace personal laptops used by them.

“Councilors want to work with laptops,” Yuliadi said at the City Hall on Thursday, October 8, 2015.

Yuliadi claimed that the laptops would be used to access information when councilors were working outside the Jakarta Legislative Council Building.

VINDRY FLORENTIN | ERWAN HERMAWAN