Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Researchers at the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) Gunardi Ridwan assesses the President Joko Widodo need to apologize to the public regarding repainting presidential plane in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is suspected that the painting costs cost the state budget of Rp. 2 billion.
“I think the president needs to confirm and apologize to the public, so that there will be no uproar in the community and maintain the authority of the central government,” Gunardi said. CNNIndonesia.com, Tuesday (3/8).
He assessed that the authority of the Jokowi government could be reduced because so far the center has often pressured the regions to be sensitive in using their budget in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
“If this happens at the presidential level, the central government will lack authority when it often pushes austerity policies [anggaran di tengah pandemi] to the regional level,” he said.
Gunardi questioned whether the replacement of the presidential plane’s paint was urgent or could it be done at a later time. If it is not urgent, then the paint replacement is labeled as a waste of the budget.
He also asked the central government to be more sensitive to the current pandemic conditions in Indonesia.
“I also don’t know how often the president uses the presidential plane or helicopter. If the schedule is down due to the pandemic situation, it is better if the budget is diverted to sectors that need it more,” he said.
In addition, Gunardi also poked fun at the legislature for failing to control the executive program. This is proven by the passing of the repaint of the presidential plane which is only known to the public at this time.
The repainting of the presidential plane was revealed to the public after many uploads from aviation expert Alvin Lie. He revealed that the presidential plane was repainted in red and white.
Sources at the Palace said that the cost of repainting the presidential plane or BBJ 2 aircraft was around Rp. 2 billion. However, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Heru Budi Hartono dismissed the repainting of the plane as a form of budget spree.
Heru said that the painting of the presidential plane had been planned for the 75th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Indonesia in 2020. However, the activity was not carried out immediately because the plane had not yet entered the routine maintenance period.
(rzr/pmg)
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