IT Procurement Budget Of IDR 39 Billion Criticized, Deputy Governor Of DKI: Now Is The Digital Era

Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta Ahmad Riza Patria (Photo:Antara)

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has proposed a budget for the procurement of information technology (IT) components of IDR 39 billion in the 2022 Regional Budget (APBD) Draft. This nominal budget has drawn criticism.

Responding to this, the Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta, Ahmad Riza Patria, views that the current procurement of technology equipment is very much needed by the government in this digital era.

"I think this is the digital era. Of course, a lot of budget is needed related to digitalization programs, whether it's applications, software, servers, hardware," said Riza at DKI City Hall, Central Jakarta, Thursday, November 18.

What is clear is that all proposed budgets have gone through careful planning, have good intentions, and can be accounted for. Bearing in mind, he is aware that the nominal value of a procurement project like this invites suspicion from other parties.

"There should be no mark-up because IT projects are quite abstract, so maybe people have suspicions. Anyone can be suspicious, but the important thing is that everything can be explained," said Riza.

He said the relevant agencies would explain the allocation for the procurement of the IT component budget that was submitted to the DKI Regional Representative Council (DPRD) in the discussion of the Regional Budget Draft (RAPBD).

"Later, the office will explain what the program is, what its designation is, what the needs are, how far the urgency of the existing jobs is and the people of the DPRD have the same duties and responsibilities to check, make sure," he explained.

Previously, a member of the PSI Party faction of the DKI DPRD, Justin Adrian, regretted the nominal amount of the IT component procurement budget with a total of IDR 39 billion proposed by the Communication, Information, and Statistics (Diskominfotik) Office.

"Diskominfotik has not explained the reason why additional servers are needed every year, nor does it explain why the specifications of the server unit must be so high. The Diskominfotik explanation has not answered the urgency of the need to purchase the server, and instead seems to only read out the server specifications," said Justin.