Friday, August 17, 2012

Indonesian Palace slammed for lavish state ceremony


Watchdog the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) has criticised the State Palace for its lavish spending on the Independence Day celebrations scheduled for Friday.

Fitra coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi said that the 7.33 billion  rupiah (US$769,650) being spent on the flag-raising ceremony was wasteful spending by the government.

"It is a fantastic amount of money for a state ceremonial event," Khadafi said.

Fitra data shows that the State Palace has spent 1.7 billion rupiah on souvenirs to be distributed to guests attending the ceremony. It also estimates that 1.1 billion rupiah will be used to pay for the air-conditioning system for the annual event.

For amenities, the State Palace is spending 440 million rupiah on buffet food for the guests and another 180 million rupiah on snacks.

Khadafi said that rather than spending so recklessly for the celebration, the State Palace have instead staged a modest celebration, relying for funding from contributions from local neighbourhoods.-Asia News Network (August 16, 2012)

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