APSN | 'House leaders' controversial US visit costs Indonesia at least Rp 4.6b'

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'House leaders' controversial US visit costs Indonesia at least Rp 4.6 billion'

Jakarta Globe - September 5, 2015

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Jakarta – The work visit to the United States by leaders of the House of Representatives, during which some of them appeared in public with presidential hopeful Donald Trump, cost the Indonesian taxpayer more than Rp 4.6 billion ($325,000), a budget watchdog has calculated.

Both House Speaker Setya Novanto and Fadli Zon, a deputy speaker, were seen standing in a group of people behind Trump as he spoke at the Trump Tower in New York on Thursday. After he finished speaking, Trump walked away from the podium only to return with Setya, whom he introduced to the crowd.

"The speaker of the House of Indonesia, he's here to see me. Setya Novanto, one of the most powerful men and a great man," Trump said, as quoted by Business Insider. "And his whole group is here to see me today. And we will do great things for the United States is that correct?" "Yes," Setya said.

Trump then asked "Do they like me in Indonesia?", to which Setya responded, "Yes, highly. Thank you very much."

"The behavior of the House speaker and his entourage is inappropriate, as if Indonesia is a tiny country that can be made fun of by America," Yenny Sucipto, secretary of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), said on Friday.

According to a conservative estimation by Fitra, looking at flight tickets, hotel costs and daily standard allowances, the 12-day trip – by nine people in total – probably cost at least Rp 4,631,428,800.

"But we suspect that the budget is bigger, it could be more than Rp 10 billion when you take into account all the various allowances," Yenny said. "The agenda for the US trip is also unclear, and taking some pictures with US politicians is just embarrassing the Indonesian people. This is a waste of state funds."

Source: http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/house-leaders-controversial-us-visit-costs-indonesia-least-rp-4-6b/.