Not Urgent, PAN Legislators Refuse Procurement Of Curtains For Office Houses Of IDR 48.7 Billion

JAKARTA - Member of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction, Guspardi Gaus, stated that his party objected to and rejected the IDR 48.7 billion budget for replacing curtains at members' houses of office in Kalibata.

According to him, the procurement of curtains, screens, and blinds of more than IDR 90 million for one official house of a member of the DPR is not something urgent. Moreover, the country is trying to recover from the pandemic.

"So the state budget allocated for the procurement of curtains in the houses of members' positions is not appropriate when the economic situation has not yet recovered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in various basic needs of the community", said Guspardi to reporters, Tuesday, March 29.

According to him, it would be more beautiful and useful if the budget for the procurement of curtains worth IDR 48.7 billion was prioritized to help restore the community's economy. For example, it is allocated to help the community in the midst of the increasing prices of necessities.

"Especially in welcoming the fast approaching Ramadan", said the PAN politician.

The legislator from West Sumatra assessed that the replacement of the curtains was a waste of the budget and wasted. In fact, said Guspardi, some even suspect that the procurement of these curtains will only benefit budget managers and those who play a role in the procurement project.

According to Guspardi, the budget for the problem of goods needs in the DPR does not come from the members' proposals. This, he said, was under the authority of the Secretary General as the power of the budget holder.

"Therefore, it is better than the budget for the procurement of curtains, screens, and blinds for the official houses of DPR members is postponed and replaced by another budget for something more useful", concluded Guspardi.

Previously, the Secretary General of the DPR, Indra Iskandar, explained that the replacement of the curtains and the vitra of the official houses of members of the DPR had been proposed since 2009 but the budget was insufficient. According to him, the curtains on the official residence of the council members have not been replaced for 13 years.

The procurement of the curtains has been carried out using an open auction mechanism and emphasizes that the work plan and conditions (RKS) are very clear.

"Thirteen years ago (13) until now there has never been, never been replaced. So, yesterday in 2022 after the budget was available, we included a vitrase component to replace the house curtains for council members who are more than 13 years old", said Indra.