Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto Suspects OPD Inflated Honorary Salary Allocations

Mayor of Makassar M Ramdhan Pomanto (Danny Pomanto)/PHOTO VIA private Instagram

MAKASSAR - Mayor of Makassar, Moh Ramdhan Pomanto (Danny Pomanto) suspects that there is an inflated salary for honorary employees within the scope of the City Government of up to IDR 5 million per person from several Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD) based on the evaluation of the 2021 APBD discussions which reached IDR 500 billion.

"If you look at the value, it's certainly irrational. When compared to the number of honorary workers as many as 12 thousand," Danny Pomanto said in Makassar, South Sulawesi, quoted by Antara, Friday, November 5.

According to him, if this figure is averaged, one contract or honorary worker within the Makassar City Government can earn IDR 5 million per month.

In fact, the facts on the ground show that the minimum salary given to them is Rp. 1.5 million and the highest is Rp. 2.3 million. So this is a concern why the budget allocation is that big.

"If I test the existing contract employees with a composition of 12 thousand, according to the latest report from the BKD, the maximum number is IDR 500 billion. That is the same as a salary of IDR 4-5 million for each contract employee," he continued.

Danny Pomanto said that his party had rationalized the budget, including honorary salaries, because there were allegations of mark ups or inflated salaries in several OPDs. However, he refused to mention what OPD was meant.

Danny said, things like this have become an old disease in the scope of the Makassar City Government. For this reason, he again reminded the Head of the OPD or Service to stop doing this, because it has become part of an act of corruption whose consequences can lead to criminal.

"I still forgive this. If not, I will go down (Sidak). I will ask about it, if it is true, I consider it corruption.

The mayor of Makassar for these two periods also asked all OPD to immediately rationalize their budgets, including the proposed honorary salary in the 2022 APBD. He and his deputy, Fatmawati Rusdi, have even cut the budget, but there are still those who heed it, so they are given one chance to fix it.

Regarding the increase in honorary salaries, he said, it would be increased by Rp. 2.3 million per month next year. With this salary increase, the government can save up to Rp. 165 billion in expenditures compared to the previous budget ceiling of more than Rp. 500 billion.

Asked about the stealth honorarium, which is certainly related to the alleged mark-up of the salary, Danny reiterated that it will be evaluated and executed immediately after the determination of the 2022 APBD if it is true that there are stealth contract workers.

"It must be audited through the Laskar Pelangi program or the Laskar Pelangi for public services with integrity. I ask how much all the data is. We have 22,400 employees, 10,400 ASN, and 12 thousand contracts," he said.