Indonesia's Parliament is in the spotlight once again - this time over toilet repairs in the ageing complex.
The estimated cost budgeted for renovations: Two billion rupiah (US$219,000) for some 220 toilets in the 24-storey building housing the offices of 560 lawmakers and their staff.
The sum - nine million rupiah per toilet - is larger than usual but not astronomically high, yet the ensuing criticism in the media and on Internet forums has gone on for one week now, reflecting growing public unease over what many see as wasteful government spending.
Such issues have hogged the limelight from time to time. Last month, MPs were criticised for going on overseas study trips at state expense to study laws and policies in countries from Singapore to South Korea, with some saying that such research could have been done over the Internet.
A trip by lawmakers to London in 2010 attracted criticism when details of their itinerary showed time allocated for sightseeing and shopping at Harrods.
And proposals for a new Parliament complex - the existing one was commissioned under then-President Sukarno and completed in 1968 - costing 1.3 trillion rupiah were put on hold last year after a public outcry.
A post on an online forum says: "Perhaps Parliament should host study visits for others on how to come up with projects."
This time round, MPs have been vocal in rebutting criticism on the toilet renovations. The specifications, said House Speaker Marzuki Alie, were set by the Parliament secretariat and had to meet those of government buildings.
"Everything that is used at one point has to be repaired," official news agency Antara reported him as saying this week. "The toilet is something that has to be repaired because it is used every day."
Agreeing, Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said the toilets were not in good shape, although she declined to comment on the projected cost.
Consultative Assembly Deputy Speaker Hajrianto Tohari was, however, more caustic. "Even if the toilet is clogged, it is 'all right'," he said, and added: "The public doesn't agree with the House's plan to build anything."
Parliament watchers, however, told The Straits Times that repairs or overseas trips would not have been an issue if lawmakers had produced better results. Said one of them: "When there is some truth to perceptions that many just talk, drink coffee and get rich, what else would you expect?"
At a plenary session on Monday, Mr Marzuki admitted that Parliament's track record in recent years has been paltry.
Last year, it sought to enact 91 new and amended laws, but endorsed only 25. In 2010, it passed only 10 out of 70 targeted Bills.
But Mr Marzuki said quality, and not quantity, mattered. New laws on social security had been passed, he noted, and a financial services authority set up to improve banking supervision.
While toilet repairs may have hogged the limelight, they are not the only contentious spending issue facing the House this past fortnight. Its plans to spend three billion rupiah to upgrade a motorcycle parking area for 800 bikes, and four billion rupiah for fingerprint scanners to monitor MPs' attendance and install closed-circuit TVs, have also drawn scrutiny.
Mr Uchok Sky Khadafi, investigation and advocacy coordinator of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, told The Straits Times that back-of-the-envelope calculations would suggest the costs of many of these items are inflated.
He fears that more of such estimates might surface as the 2014 elections draw closer and politicians seek funds for re-election. He added: "They will resist the public outcry for as long as they can."
