http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-legislators-planning-to-move-into-new-rp-18t-headquarters/372335
April 30, 2010 Armando Siahaan A presidential bodyguard keep an eye out above the House of Representatives building. In breaking news, the government has just announced plans for a new parliamentary building given that the existing structure is tilting and its floors cracking. (JG Photo/ Yudhi Sukma Wijaya) Indonesian Legislators Planning to Move Into New Rp 1.8t Headquarters If lawmakers have their way, in three years they will be performing their duties in a new Rp 1.8 trillion ($200 million) building set to rise a stone's throw from their present premises. House of Representatives budget committee chairman Harry Azhar Azis confirmed on Friday that a 36-story edifice was planned that would contain 700 rooms serving mainly as lawmakers' offices. The new building will be within the House complex in the Senayan area of Central Jakarta, next to Nusantara I, which it will replace. Harry said the household committee had already set the design for the new building and was now in the budgeting phase. The budget committee will meet the Finance Ministry and Bank Indonesia on Saturday to discuss funding. "It is very likely the budget will be approved by the government," Harry said. He said it was proposed Rp 250 billion would be allocated this year so construction could begin as early as August. To justify the need for the new building, Harry said that according to an architectural survey conducted two years ago, Nusantara I, completed under President Suharto in 1968, had structural cracks and was tilting as much as 7 degrees. "During a recent earthquake, the picture of the president that was hanging on the office of my wall tilted almost 30 degrees," he said, adding that the new building was first proposed in the House's 2004-09 working period. "It was already decided during the last period, but then the elections came so the House speaker decided to postpone the plan," Harry said. But Tommy Legowo, of the Forum of Concerned Society on Indonesian Legislature (Formappi), said the issue was not urgent. "If it's just for an office, the lawmakers already have offices," he said. "The House also already has enough meeting rooms." Tommy said unless the building was going to serve a new function, spending the money would be a waste. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
