TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama or Ahok, through his working team, denied the accusations of the current Governor Anies Baswedan who said that Ahok`s transition team was funded by private sectors.

“The governor’s monthly operational costs when Pak Ahok served as governor was allocated for the operations of the regional secretary, five mayors, and one regent,” as stated by Ahok team’s official Instagram account @basukibtp on Tuesday, November 21.

According to Ahok team, the staff funding did not involve any private sector but in fact, used the operational funds received by the governor regularly. The operational funds were also not entirely used by Ahok himself.

Read: Anies Baswedan Criticizes Source Funds of Former Governor Ahok

The team explained that the operational funds were routinely used for social activities in Jakarta such as to fund the impoverished, renovate houses and religious places of worships including mosques and churches.

“The money was even used to increase the pay of office boys and cleaning servicemen that are employed by the governor’s office. The leftover of the operational funds, when there was a surplus, were then returned to the provincial treasury,” the Ahok team explained.

This issue first emerged when Jakarta`s 2018 regional budget had allocated Rp28.5 billion to fund Anies Baswedan transition team, which spiked from the original amount of Rp2.3 billion.

LARISSA HUDA