Surabaya Mayor Hopes Draft Budget to be Endorsed in November

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) - Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has expressed hope the city legislative council (DPRD) which was inaugurated on Sunday would endorse the draft 2015 city budget (RAPBD) in November this year. "Hopefully, it will be endorsed in not so distant future," she said after attending the inauguration of new city legislators at the DPRD building here on Sunday. With the inauguration of the new city legislators, the mayor said she could not predict when the RAPBD would be endorsed as the newly-inaugurated legislators still had to adjust to the RAPBD which had been partly discussed by their predecessors. "According to the rule, it must be endorsed in November. But let's wait and see," she pointed out. Rismaharini said the deliberation of the RAPBD was very urgent because it had to do with education, infrastructures and so on. The faster the deliberation of the RAPBD the better the city administration would make preparations for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) which would start in 2015. "Moreover, representatives of the Singapore government have expressed readiness to open an office in Surabaya," she said. (*)