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For the House, an Office or an Icon?
Anita Rachman | May 22, 2011

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If lawmakers just want more space, then a scaled-down version of their controversial new office tower should be enough, a House leader said on Friday.

Ahead of a scheduled meeting with the Public Works Ministry on Monday regarding the fate of the building plan, Anis Matta, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said the ministry’s recommendation to cut the project’s cost by more than Rp 350 billion ($41 million) doesn't automatically have to be adopted.

“Do we want it to merely be a new office building, or do we want an iconic building?” the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) lawmaker said. “If what you want is an icon, then the price is going to be different.”

The ministry has recommended the building be scaled back from the original 36-story design to just 26, slashing the budget from Rp 1.13 trillion to Rp 777 billion.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie said previously that there was no reason to not consider the revised plan. Anis, however, said the final decision was up to the Household Affairs Committee (BURT), where all factions were represented.

“We will listen to the minister’s recommendations,” Anis said. “But we don’t necessarily need to take the advice. Only the BURT can decide that.”

But when asked if the country needed a new iconic building, some lawmakers could only offer cryptic answers.

Priyo Budi Santoso, a House deputy speaker from Golkar, said the country did not have much money when the tortoise-shaped House plenary hall was built in 1965. “But, as it turned out, we were able to build that iconic building,” he said. “That’s all I’m saying. That was during Sukarno’s time.”

“But I think it’s better for the House to listen to the Public Works Ministry’s suggestions,” he added.