Pontianak City Government Pangkas 50 Percent Official Travel

Acting Mayor of Pontianak Edi Suryanto (Kanan) (ANTARA/Dedi)

JAKARTA - The Pontianak City Government, West Kalimantan cut up to 50 percent of the budget for official travel, in line with President Prabowo Subianto's direction through the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"The Pontianak City Government through the Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) is currently evaluating all programs. Unrelevant activities will be eliminated, or if it is not important we reduce it," said Pontianak Mayor Edi Suryanto in Pontianak as reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 24.

He emphasized that if there is no relevance of activities to the welfare of the community, the program will be canceled or reduced.

"Again, in percentage terms, almost 50 percent of the official travel budget has been cut for next year," he explained.

He also emphasized that the internal meritocracy process of the Pontianak City Government has been going well so far that it has succeeded in preventing the practice of corruption, collusion and Nepotism (KKN).

"So far, the mechanism for selecting officials or directors in Regional Owned Enterprises (BUMD) has always been through the selection committee by involving many academics and externals. The process has been running according to applicable regulations and those who choose the Pansel, only a small part of the government," he said, who is also the Director of Coordination and Supervision of Region I KPK RI.

On the other hand, the Pontianak City Government also continues to encourage Regional Original Income (PAD) by optimizing the Pontianak City BUMD such as PDAM Tirta Khatulistiwa and BPR Equatorial. The central government's target towards Golden Indonesia 2045 where the regions can be independent on a budget basis and do not depend on the central government or provincial governments. Edi then appreciated the role of the Pontianak City BUMD which has been extraordinary in encouraging PAD.

"The Pontianak City BUMD is extraordinary, I appreciate it. But of course we continue to be open to other potential incomes," he said.

Various innovations were also created by all ASN within the Pontianak City Government as well as BUMD employees to explore potential income. Edi said, one example of the innovation was to build hydrants in residential areas prone to land fires.

"Pontianak when it is dry will trigger land fires, we need hydrants at points prone to forest and land fires. There are already a lot of fire engines but where the water comes from, that's what we are trying to do and one of the steps to maximize the BUMD," he added.